How to Sex a Goldfish

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Chris, with Aquatic Central, here in San Francisco, and on the web at: aquatic-central.com, and today, I'd like to tell you how to sex a goldfish. First off, it's not easy. It's actually quite difficult, to sex a goldfish. Usually, you'll need an adult goldfish, probably at least three to four inches. Some of the techniques used are taking an established or known female goldfish, then placing new goldfish into the tank. Now, generally males will go and check out a female, while other females will ignore another female. Another more common method is by checking underneath the belly, behind the ventral and anal fin. The vent, the females will have a more rounded, broad vent or tube, as opposed to males, which will have a smaller opening. Now, this is the vent region, that I was referring to, and based on the small oval shape work, I'm going to guess that this is a male, and also based on the fact that the male has very large, fancy finnage. That also is going to lead me to guess that that is a male. During breeding, it's a lot easier to tell, which is the male and female, because a female will plumpen up. Her belly will become quite firm, and large, while a male, will develop white spots along his gill plate. Again, it's not that easy to sex goldfish, but it can be done with some confidence, with a few specific indicators. My name is Chris, with Aquatic Central, here in San Francisco, and on the web at: aquatic-central.com."