Dusky_Chaser Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keenist Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Nice capture, she is a bid girl Shame you didnt release her - that one fish could equal 10,000... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatty hunter626 Posted November 19, 2008 Author Share Posted November 19, 2008 (edited) i thought of it this way in the river either its mine or the pros are gunna catch it...and any way please dont try and state that the bigger fish are females have a search on the forum CSIRO tests have proved that around half of the bigger fish are males ......and that its the fish around the 60cm mark that are the breeders...... Edited November 19, 2008 by flatty hunter626 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yakfishing Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 I prefer to see the big'ns swim, but the fisheries say its ok to take home 1 croc so I dont hold anything against anyone who does. Just as long as its for a feed, not a trophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatty hunter626 Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 haha it was more than a bloody feed:P.....i gave one fillet to a mate and the other took me 3 different meals to finish it!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAfisho Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 i thought of it this way in the river either its mine or the pros are gunna catch it...and any way please dont try and state that the bigger fish are females have a search on the forum CSIRO tests have proved that around half of the bigger fish are males ......and that its the fish around the 60cm mark that are the breeders...... Could you please provide this information? I think that comment is quite false based on my research. I have found that almost every flathead over 60cm is female. Also that the age for sexual maturity is not only 60cm, i.e. at that age around 90cm they become sterile. If you want the link to the information I can give it. It's conducted by NSW Fisheries. My opinion is that any 60cm+ flathead should be released, but that's not the point of this post. I would like to see these tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusky_Chaser Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Ditto SA I would also like the link to that report you mentioned. Please pm me the link. Cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamtime Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 (edited) This issue has been round before http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=25591 " I was reading the July 2007 issue of Modern Fishing and came across the letter 'Lizard Lore', from a fellow reader (Anthony Willebrands-DL) and thought I may be able to provide a few answers in regards to the Flathead biology. I'm currently finishing my PHD through the centre for Fish and Fisheries Research at Murdoch University in Western Australia, in which I am investigating the biology of the Yellowtail Flathead and the Western Blue Groper and Blue Morwong. During this study of the Yellowtail Flathead, (Platycephalus endrachtensis), in the Swan river estuary in Perth, we found several characteristics that Anthony Willebrands and other fellow Flathead lovers may like to know. Even though the Yellowtail Flathead can not reach the extraordinary lengths and weights to that of the Dusky Flathead, it does share the same characteristics of females and males having markedly different growth rates. The females and males of the Yellowtail Flathead attain a maximum length of 615mm and 374mm respectively. If you were only to see this result , you could be forgiven for assuming that this species is a protandrous hermaphrodite( male and female sex change). However, we also found that both sexes are present at all age classes from a age of one year old to the maximum of 9 years, recorded for both sexes. Further investigation of the reproductive organs, overies and testes of Yellowtail flathead found no evidence of male and female reproductive tissue occurig together-a key indication of possible sex change. Our conclusion was that Yellowtail Flathead were dioecious ( Speparate sexes), with females and males possessing markedly different growth rates. In other studies of Flatheads in the genus Platycephalis, including the Dusky (P.fuscus), Southern blue-spotted Flathead(P.speculator), Sand Flathead (P.Bassensis), Tiger Flathead(P.richardsoni) and the bar tailed flathead(P.indicus), similar results of femailes attaining a larger size have been found. Furthermore, none of these scientific studies found any evidence of sex change in these species. The thought that Dusky Flathead may change sex may could have come about from literature describing the biology of other members of the Platcephalid family, including several species found in Japanese waters, such as the Lizard Flathead(Inegocia japonica). They do change sex from male to female. In species where the large fish are females not just in Flathead, it is imperative that we try to protect these large fish because it is these individuals that have the greatest reproductive output; they are able to produce hundreds of thousands or even millions of eggs. To think that these large Dusky Flatheads are barren is not correct. Kind Regards Pete C. Peter Coulson, Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research , South St. Murdoch, WA 6150. Edited November 20, 2008 by Mariner 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPL Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusky_Chaser Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Interesting stufff mariner. Do you have a link to where some of this imfo is published? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatty hunter626 Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 Interesting stufff mariner. Do you have a link to where some of this imfo is published? theres alot more studies very similar on the internet a simple google search reveals quite a bit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusky_Chaser Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 I'd be interested in a link to what you said also FH. Have googled much on the subject. Maybe you found something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAfisho Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 (edited) What they have found is that a vast majority of 50-60cm+ flathead are females. Take a look at figure 1.7 in the link below. Practically every flathead they tested that was over 60cm was female. This suggests that male flathead just don't grow that big. Table 1.2 also shows that female flathead were shown to be sexually mature at an average size of 56cm, whilst males mature much earlier. This means every big female is crucial and there's no way that nature would let an animal be sexually active for such a short period of their life. It suggests that female flathead are fertile through out their lives. These tests prove that big flathead are evidently female, and whether they change sex is irrelevant as the whole c&r argument is based around big flathead being female, which is true. That flatty you killed was female. Fisheries Flathead Report Edited November 20, 2008 by SAfisho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatty hunter626 Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 (edited) That flatty you killed was female. thats an extremely arrogant quote .....riddle me this then.....if the fish i caught was so CERTAINLY a female.........THEN why upon gutting it did i find the testes??????.....wow this one really has me stumped... hmmmmm and SA fisho you may want to review the site rules as this is a clear breach of rule 15 for fish raider 15. No criticism of legal catches and/or inappropriate imposing of C&R views in fishing reports flatty hunter Edited November 20, 2008 by flatty hunter626 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatty hunter626 Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 awesome fish mate.. im with u mate.. thats a trophy fish that should be eaten... cant beat flattie fillets... do u go 2 syd fc home games??? will be heading 2 the game vs qld on the 28th.... nope no way you can they taste bloody brilliant.... course ill be there have only missed 1 home game all season.... cheers flatty hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAfisho Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 thats an extremely arrogant quote .....riddle me this then.....if the fish i caught was so CERTAINLY a female.........THEN why upon gutting it did i find the testes??????.....wow this one really has me stumped... hmmmmm and SA fisho you may want to review the site rules as this is a clear breach of rule 15 for fish raider 15. No criticism of legal catches and/or inappropriate imposing of C&R views in fishing reports flatty hunter Not once did I criticize the catch, it's an impressive capture. That can't be argued. I also don't think my views are inappropriate. Also female gonads look almost identical to testes, the only difference is that testes are bright white whilst female gonads can be a slightly more roe-ish colour. I doubt you were gutting it and instantly went "yep, there's the testes". Also look at the stats, they don't lie. And if I were wrong, and it was a male, then you may have killed the largest (and maybe the only large) male in the system. Let's keep it civil, I enjoy a good debate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flightmanager Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 ALL MEMBERS PLEASE TAKE NOTE : As pointed out in this thread , criticism of a LEGAL capture of a fish is not permitted in the Fishraider Forums. ( Rule 15 ). You may , of course discuss until the cows come home whether 60CM Flathead are male or female . You may not discuss whether the angler should have released or kept the fish. Breaches of this rule will be dealt with by Admin or Moderators. Repeat offences could see your posting priveledges restricted or revoked , and in certain cases , your membership of Fishraider terminated. Ross [MOD] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sniper Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Here we go again I have never caught a dusky flathead under 42cm that was a female I believe they are a protandrous hermaphrodite (all born males and changing sex to female after a certain size) SO IF YOU KEEP ALL THE SMALL ONES (males) AND RELEASE ALL THE BIG ONES (FEMALES) this is going to cause an un balance eg NO MALES TO FERTILISE THE EGGS its a "catch 22" situation sniper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatty hunter626 Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 Not once did I criticize the catch, it's an impressive capture. That can't be argued. I also don't think my views are inappropriate. Also female gonads look almost identical to testes, the only difference is that testes are bright white whilst female gonads can be a slightly more roe-ish colour. I doubt you were gutting it and instantly went "yep, there's the testes". yes but you were imposing your catch and release views in a way which was against the rules.....no i looked around in the guts for about 20 minutes seeing what it had been feeding on ect...and after seeing the info about the testes i wanted to be sure myself to prove a point so i am quite sure that it was them and here you are telling me how it isnt a male without even looking inside the fish..???????...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flightmanager Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Thank you all for your input , this thread is now closed . Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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