Leopard Wrasse Gender Change

[ca1ore]

I have a number of different species of leopard wrasse in my tank, some as old as 5 years others a new as 1 year. All females as near as I can tell. My oldest is a blue star. Was feeding the tank the other day and lo and behold, she showed up as a he. Only took 5 years LOL. The change literally happened overnight. Most curious. I wonder what the 'trigger' was? Although I prefer the male colours in meleagris, I actually prefer the female colours in the blue star. Oh well!

 

[road_runner]

I have a number of different species of leopard wrasse in my tank, some as old as 5 years others a new as 1 year. All females as near as I can tell. My oldest is a blue star. Was feeding the tank the other day and lo and behold, she showed up as a he. Only took 5 years LOL. The change literally happened overnight. Most curious. I wonder what the 'trigger' was? Although I prefer the male colours in meleagris, I actually prefer the female colours in the blue star. Oh well!

Love it.
My female leapord wrass who o had for 3 years changed when I added xmas wrass...bizzar and makes no sense but that what happen. It also happened very quickly. The transition took around a week.
I love leopard wrass. Happy for you.

 

[Katrina71]

Would you mind posting pics before and after?

 

[mfinn]

I've been really shocked at how fast they can transition to male.
I currently have 3 female leopards and a female potters together and a male melanurus.
I'm wondering if the male melanurus will keep the others female.

I'd like to know what the "trigger" is too.

 

[road_runner]

I used to have a pair flame wrass, super Male and a female.
One day the Male jumpediut of the water and he is gone.
I started looking for another super male, it took me 1 month to find one, I added the new super male, withen a week the female turned to super Male ha ha ha...so I ended up with 2 flamewrass males ha ha ha

 

[Makers Marc]

I have a number of different species of leopard wrasse in my tank, some as old as 5 years others a new as 1 year. All females as near as I can tell. My oldest is a blue star. Was feeding the tank the other day and lo and behold, she showed up as a he. Only took 5 years LOL. The change literally happened overnight. Most curious. I wonder what the 'trigger' was? Although I prefer the male colours in meleagris, I actually prefer the female colours in the blue star. Oh well!

Same thing happened to my female blue star. It took 3 yrs then one day it changed, I thought my male potters would prevent it.

Now its stuck at 80% transition and looks only 10% as pretty. I'm bummed but decided to keep it.

 

[saltyhog]

My Potter's started transitioning in QT. It's weird how variable leopard wrasse transition is compared to fairy and flasher wrasses where it seems to be inevitable (and more leisurely).

 

[ca1ore]

Would you mind posting pics before and after?

I shall certainly try. I stink at photography …. usually the leopards are just a blur. I think I may try to do a video.

 

[ca1ore]

I've been really shocked at how fast they can transition to male.
I currently have 3 female leopards and a female potters together and a male melanurus.
I'm wondering if the male melanurus will keep the others female.

I'd like to know what the "trigger" is too.

That's an interesting observation. I have a large male dusky in my tank and had mostly concluded that IT WAS affecting leopard gender changes …… apparently not LOL.

 

[ca1ore]

My Potter's started transitioning in QT. It's weird how variable leopard wrasse transition is compared to fairy and flasher wrasses where it seems to be inevitable (and more leisurely).

Keep an eye on it. The last time I kept a potters and it transitioned to male it became an absolute SOB. So much so that I eventually had to rehome it.

 

[saltyhog]

Keep an eye on it. The last time I kept a potters and it transitioned to male it became an absolute SOB. So much so that I eventually had to rehome it.

Will do. He transitioned fully within a few weeks of getting her/him. I've had him a little over 6 years and he hasn't caused any problems yet but he's the only leopard in the tank. You're making me reluctant to add another leopard!

 

[Makers Marc]

I shall certainly try. I stink at photography …. usually the leopards are just a blur. I think I may try to do a video.

You can do a video, then slowly find a frame where the pic looks good. Then screen shot it.

 

[ca1ore]

That seems like too much 'work ' …..

Male biparts always look 'patchy' to me.

 

[ca1ore]

I much prefer the male meleagris ….

Please excuse the grubby front panel; this is my refugium.

 

[OrionN]

I have a number of different species of leopard wrasse in my tank, some as old as 5 years others a new as 1 year. All females as near as I can tell. My oldest is a blue star. Was feeding the tank the other day and lo and behold, she showed up as a he. Only took 5 years LOL. The change literally happened overnight. Most curious. I wonder what the 'trigger' was? Although I prefer the male colours in meleagris, I actually prefer the female colours in the blue star. Oh well!

What??? No pictures????

 

[OrionN]

I like the black Leopard. The outline of the scales are florescent aqua-blue, on black. Absolutely stunning. The florescent color cannot be can not be capture by the camera. You are going to have to just imagine it.

 

[ca1ore]

What??? No pictures????

Pictures and videos in my build thread (simons 450).