Identifying Female Flasher Wrasses

[Rico's Reef]

Hi everyone,

My LFS just informed me they were able to get a female Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus Carpenteri), i asked them to place it on hold for me so i can go purchase it later today. This got me thinking about how they even know its a female Carpenter's Wrasse(in hopes that maybe it could be a female of another species that i have on my fish list ). I began to search the interwebs for some information on identifying the difference in species when it comes to female flashers but was unable to find any literature on this topic .

So my question is how do you guys identify what species of female flasher wrasse(Paracheilinus) you are looking at?

I was hoping some of you Wrasse experts could chime in here

P.S. If you know of any resources for this information please let me know ;Bookworm

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Identifying female flasher wrasse is easy.

Just take a picture and post it on the ID thread, you will have an accurate answer shortly!

I too have been unable to find a good reference source other than the experts here.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Identifying females can be incredibly difficult. If the species is identifiable, then it is likely a transitional male at the very least.

 

[Maritimer]

Given that I've seen McCosker's and yellowfin flashers identified as Carpenters, and social fairies identified as filamented flashers, (and those were all adult males!) I don't think I'd trust most LFS to get females right.

~Bruce

 

[MIKE NY]

Identifying females can be incredibly difficult. If the species is identifiable, then it is likely a transitional male at the very least.

Very true ...I find most female/juvenile Flasher and Fairy wrasses are just reddish in color and until male fins/colorations form it difficult to determine the species....

 

[Rico's Reef]

Thanks everyone for the replies! So i went in to go see the female flasher and this is what i was greeted with:



It doesn't look like a female Paracheilinus but maybe more so a female Cirrhilabrus but of course i could be wrong. I will post an ID thread as suggested This reminded me of an article i read on reef builders where it had one male Paracheilinus with a harem of Cirrhilabrus in the background in multiple shots at Triton Bay(https://reefbuilders.com/2014/10/20/reef-nuggets-3-fairies-flashers-notes-wild/). This may be why it was identified as a female Paracheilinus. My LFS told me the wholesaler was the one who told them it was a female Paracheilinus. From what I have seen most female Paracheilinus of different species tend to have those iridescent lines that are found in the body of both male and female fish like this male and female Paracheilinus Filamentosus:



Maybe this is the best way to identify if it is a Female Paracheilinus? I'm by no means an expert in Paracheilinus, any input from the Wrasse gurus would be awesome! What do you guys use as your resources when it comes to identifying different Labridea?

 

[eatbreakfast]

You got a female fairy wrasse from the lubbocki complex of species.

Kuiter's Labridae book and Fishbase are the sources I rely on if I can't identify the species on my own.

 

[evolved]

You got a female fairy wrasse from the lubbocki complex of species.

Kuiter's Labridae book and Fishbase are the sources I rely on if I can't identify the species on my own.

I'm going to disagree; looks like rubripinnis to me.