Flasher wrasse ID

[WhitePanther93]

Can anyone help id him for me?
I think he’s a young carpenter
Thought it was a female at first but then I noticed the single spike on the dorsal fin.

honestly I’m looking for a female flasher wrasse or 2 of any kind(I remember reading that there’s no real difference visibly for females)
To coax some good color and behavior out of him. So if anyon could point me in a good direction for that I would appreciate that.

 

[blaxsun]

There's too much blue to tell, but it could also be a blue flasher wrasse. There's a good chance it's male.

 

[WhitePanther93]

There's too much blue to tell, but it could also be a blue flasher wrasse. There's a good chance it's male.

I didn’t have my camera lense handy and now the little s.o.b. Went into hiding now that I do.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Wrasse are sexually dimorphic. All of them start as females and they morph into terminal males when they are either alone or become the alpha of a group over a harem of females. The males are the ones with the most vibrant coloration.

The longer he is left without another alpha to compete with the more male and vibrant his colors will be.

 

[WhitePanther93]

Wrasse are sexually dimorphic. All of them start as females and they morph into terminal males when they are either alone or become the alpha of a group over a harem of females. The males are the ones with the most vibrant coloration.

The longer he is left without another alpha to compete with the more male and vibrant his colors will be.

So literally the opposite of clown fish?

 

[ZombieEngineer]

So literally the opposite of clown fish?

Exactly

 

[blaxsun]

I didn’t have my camera lense handy and now the little s.o.b. Went into hiding now that I do.

Figures. I don't know how they can always tell when a camera comes out. It looks like the blue flasher wrasse I had (and the ones from my LFS), but the blue lighting could be throwing things off.

As @ZombieEngineer pointed out, when the fish starts looking totally spectacular and gets a longer and more elegant dorsal fin, chances are it's a male. If it's kind of drab and ordinary looking - probably a female.

 

[WhitePanther93]

Figures. I don't know how they can always tell when a camera comes out. It looks like the blue flasher wrasse I had (and the ones from my LFS), but the blue lighting could be throwing things off.

Lol. And when I do get a nice pic, my attention ***** of a clown fish is like

 

[nereefpat]

I would like to see a more white picture too. It has a spike on the dorsal fin, so I would say it's at least transitioning. The single spike makes me lean toward McCosker or yellow fin.

See if this helps: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/ht/index.php

 

[WhitePanther93]

I would like to see a more white picture too. It has a spike on the dorsal fin, so I would say it's at least transitioning. The single spike makes me lean toward McCosker or yellow fin.

See if this helps: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/ht/index.php

I tried my damndest but he currently likes the spot further in the back behind my gorgonia. That and I can only do so much with my phones camera

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Has a ways to color in. Give him a few months and you should see the blue stripes pop a lot more.

When I had carpenters and McCoskers it took about 3 months to fully transition and I never kept multiples.

 

[blaxsun]

Photobomb care of midas blenny...
It really looks like the female blue flasher wrasses that I had (colors are kind of muted), but until some of the colors fill-in a bit more I think "best guess" is all I can manage. Could be any of the suggestions...

 

[WhitePanther93]

Honestly I think I’m just gonna put another one or two to see if I can get a group dynamic going.

 

[WhitePanther93]

Shhh. I may or may not have just got him from my lfs

This one was marked as a carpenter flasher

 

[i cant think]

I tried my damndest but he currently likes the spot further in the back behind my gorgonia. That and I can only do so much with my phones camera

Looks to me like Paracheilinus mccoskeri. Carpenteri has several elongates filaments, Mccoskeri only has one.