After much so called discussion on the bank, we could not come to a proper conclusion as to the differance in a cock trout and a hen, does any one have the answer as it driving us mad..or at least to murder..on a visual aspect not after gutting...

My 9 year old asked me this and even googled it to no avail

I have no idea but would love to learn

The shape of the mouth .

Chris.

Both young trout look the same and the physical differences only become apparent when they sexually mature. The cock's head will be longer and more pointed, the hen retains her rounded head. The cock develops his kype, the hooked jaw.

In answer to the original question, the mouth parts of a male fish are longer than those of a female.

Most fisheries now stock Tripiloid fish which are genetically altered and have both male & female parts. So you will get both eggs & milt from the same fish.


BK

I thought triploids were sterile and so had no reproductive parts at all

Mat

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I am going to be awkwward and offer a third response about triploid trout. You can have triploid female XXX chromosomes or triploid male XXY chromosomes. In both cases the exterior morphology is pretty much identical to diploid fish until you reach sexual maturity. Triploids will not develop spawning colours and features such as the kype.

As far as I am aware they do not have both male and female sex organs. They have the sex organs of their sex but they do not develop and instead stay morphologically similar to the juvenile stage.

Happy to be proven wrong but just finished reading a paper on it and that was the consensus. Useful for fish farming as they grow slightly faster and dont lose condition when a diploid fish would be trying to mate.

Dan

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Hi Dan

I stand corrected

BK

I'd have thought that you've gotten used to it by now.