Elvis wrote: |
a plurry Ozzie gender bender....and it smells a bit fishy to boot!!!! |
Interesting. Recent research has found that, unlike barramundi and yellowfin bream, dusky flathead do not change from males to females (protandrous hermaphroditism) as they grow (Pollock 2015). The sex of an individual is determined at the juvenile stage and is maintained through the lifetime of the fish. The dominance of female fish in the larger size classes and older age groups are a result of the slowing growth rates of male fish in comparison to female fish, and female fish living longer.
Flathead don't change sex as was once commonly believed, instead it is only the females that grow larger than 50cm. So it's in our interest to let these big female fish go again.
Are flathead hermaphrodites?
Biology. The spiny flathead is a protandrous hermaphrodite, the mature males change sex into females. There is external fertilisation of eggs and the eggs are broadcast, although they are embedded within a large, floating, gelatinous matrix.
I stand corrected mate. You learn something new every day.