Finfish Breeding and Hatchery Management (2+1)

Unit 15 - Breeding of indigenous carps

15.4. Identification of sex of brooders

• At periodic intervals, the fish is individually checked for their maturity stage.
• Prior to induced breeding, identification of sexes is performed by observing the external morphological characters like genital aperture, shape of abdomen colouration of fins, size of fish etc.
• Males were found to be smaller than females.

The keys used for the identification of sex of brooders are as follows

Female	Male
Larger in size, slightly smaller pectoral fin, a few ova discharged on applying pressure on abdomen	Smaller in size, slightly larger pectoral fin milt oozes out on applying pressure on abdomen
Pectoral fin brighter, body stouter	Pectoral fin duller, body linear