Leopard Wrasse Gender Change

[jeremyg]

Just wanted to share these cool pics of a leopard wrasse changing from female to male.

Here she is when we got her 2 years ago:

Here he is today:

I wonder how much more he’ll change and how long it’ll take…?

 

[Rtaylor]

Did you add another female that triggered the change? My be blue star leopard (Macropharyngodon bipartitus) changed after adding a small female. Crazy how much they change.

 

[jeremyg]

Nope. Seems to have happened out of the blue. Added a few cardinal fish and a gray angelfish last week.

 

[Spare time]

PS just for terminology sake, the it would be the sex of the fish

Gender in non-human animals refers to a sort of class division under one sex whereby there are different forms or strategies but same gamete size (i.e. the three genders of this type of marine amphipod male or common side blotched lizard); alpha, beta, and gamma). A changing of sex in animals is more along the lines of changing the size of the gamete produced.

 

[i cant think]

Did you add another female that triggered the change? My be blue star leopard (Macropharyngodon bipartitus) changed after adding a small female. Crazy how much they change.

Sometimes leopards will transition without another female however they don’t transition as often (Hence why we can keep pairs or trios of this genus - the same can be said with Anampses).

 

[jeremyg]

Sometimes leopards will transition without another female however they don’t transition as often (Hence why we can keep pairs or trios of this genus - the same can be said with Anampses).

Does that mean I could add another (female) leopard?

 

[i cant think]

Does that mean I could add another (female) leopard?

You could yes. However you will want to remain cautious and maybe add a third as well if you have room (Trios often disperse the aggression).

 

[Saltyanimals]

I totally missed out during my bluestar's teenage years. Brought it a female and it very quickly transitioned into a male after I introduced it so I never had the red colors for very long. It was an amazingly rapid change. It was also the only wrasse in my tank at the time, but I suspect it was because I bought it pre-QT'ed with an unknown number/type of QT fishes. Maybe there was another leopard in there through QT which started the change.

I'm considering adding a smaller female, but not sure how this would play out. Anyone done this?

 

[OrionN]

I have a numbers of wrasse change sex in my tank. I think if your tank is large, feed them well and they will change sex in your tank. I documented a few of them changing sex. Here are pictures of my M. meleagris change from juvenile to flashing terminal male. Change over 6 months.

 

[CoralB]

Wow !!! Thanks for sharing !!

 

[OrionN]

This Black Leopard, M. negrosensis, change over 1 year. The last picture is that of a terminal Black leopard in a non flashing coloration.

 

[OrionN]

Does that mean I could add another (female) leopard?

It really depends on how large your tank is. My Meleagris were keep in harem of 4, while the Negrosensis was keep as a singleton (along with my Meleagris harem).
I think for Leopard, nutrition play a very important role, and lack of inhibition from dominant wrasse. My Male chased and spawn with he females ALL the time.

 

[Saltyanimals]

It really depends on how large your tank is. My Meleagris were keep in harem of 4, while the Negrosensis was keep as a singleton (along with my Meleagris harem).
I think for Leopard, nutrition play a very important role, and lack of inhibition from dominant wrasse. My Male chased and spawn with he females ALL the time.

Thanks for sharing and highlighting the possibility of adding more females to an existing male. Any recommendation on size of the new female additions? I think mine is full grown male about 4 in now.

I may just do this, but admittingly the thought of another QT round for sand-sleeper is dreadful. lol. And my tank is mostly dry variety of pellet/flake food. Getting a new leopard in and on the dry food is almost as fun as the QT. lol

 

[OrionN]

I did not have problem with aggression with my Leopard wrasses. I QT them in a 40 gal breeder reef. I don't medicate my new fish, but don't release them to my main tank until they are healthy and eating well.
I always like tiny fish, the smaller the better. I wrote about my new Leopard wrasse here, on R2R, somewhere. They were about 1.25 inches when I first got them. Too small for a 320 with lots of larger fishes so I keep them in my QT reef for a long time, months.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Any thoughts on adding very small female leopards to a tank with an existing significantly larger male bluestar? I may include in my next batch of fish.

 

[homer1475]

Should be fine, but note, I said should. Each individual fish has their own personality.

 

[OrionN]

I never keep a Bluestar Leopard. I was told that this is among one of the most aggressive of the Leopard wrasse. Still, I don't think the male would bother, to the point of killing a female leopard wrasse. Two male is another matter.

 

[OrionN]

Just wanted to share these cool pics of a leopard wrasse changing from female to male.

Here she is when we got her 2 years ago:

Here he is today:

I wonder how much more he’ll change and how long it’ll take…?

The color of your fish is really light in comparison to mine. Mine really changed quickly. Only several months.