Assessment of sex and evaluation of ovarian maturation of fish using ultrasonography

Ultrasonography is a non-invasive method that can be used to assess sex and maturity of fish. This study was conducted to examine the feasibility of using ultrasound images to sex juvenile and mature halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Linnaeus), mature winter Pleuronectes americanus (Walbaum) and yellowtail flounder Pleuronectes ferruginea (Storer) and mature haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus (Linnaeus). In females, both immature and mature ovaries were relatively easy to distinguish, but in males only mature testes were consistently distinguishable. Ovarian maturation of haddock and ovulatory cycles of halibut may also be assessed using ultrasound.