Looking for a wrasse ID

[ACBlinky]

I bought my fairy wrasse from an un-labeled tank. The employee wasn't sure what species she was, but I wasn't concerned - I figured I'd be able to ID her from pictures in my marine atlas or online... turns out it's not that easy!
I've seen pictures of Cirrhilabrus flavidorsalis that resemble my fish, though she doesn't have a black spot near her tail, and some of C. lubbocki that look just like her... but other pics of Lubbock's look nothing like my fish. I'm hoping someone here will take one look at her (or... him? I'm assuming she's female since she's alone in the tank and AFAIK these fish are female by default) and know what species she is. Thanks for the help!

Here she is, sorry for the lousy pics, she's FAST and hard to catch on film.

[CrazyLionfish]

Well, I've tried looking all over and I can't find anything. How about you name it... the... Pink Yellow Wrasse. lol

[Beckmola24]

It's a Tri color Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse. I have the same one They're great wrasses. There is a great variance in color between some of the tri-colors, but if you look on themarinecenter.com there is a picture of the tri colored Lubbock's.

[CrazyLionfish]

Or you could name it a... Tri Color Lubbock's Fairy Wrase!

[Beckmola24]

Actually I was told by my LFS that the one I have is a male Lubbocks, and mine looks like your fish's twin For lack of creativity I named him Luby.

[ACBlinky]

Thanks for the confirmation guys
Becky, I'm pretty sure I've got a girl (I sure hope so, her name is Gwynneth!) I've seen pics of male Lubbock's that look completely different than the pink/purple/yellow colouration on my wrasse - I'm sure no expert though! Here's a picture from a site I came across - www.dejongmarinelife.nl - that shows a gorgeous male. This blue colouration is what I consistantly find when looking up info on males, though sometimes pics of fish that look similar to mine only redder and more vibrant come up. AFAIK these fish are female by default and turn into males when they become head of a harem, but I'm still reading up on this so I could be off here.

[killagoby]

This is a shot of my Tri-Color:



I'm sure it is a smaller Cirrhilabrus from it's body shape. The variation in colors prob. is because of where it is from(?)

[Beckmola24]

hmm that's interesting about the male/female thing. That male is gorgeous. I wish I had my 90g set up now cause I'd LOVE to get a school of them So maybe my LFS had it wrong. They've been wrong before killagoby; nice Lubbocks! I like the hint of blue yours has!

[Beckmola24]

Here is my Lubbocks "Luby"

[dvmsn]

You might have a male. These guys are really variable. Not all males look like your pic. Yours has pretty intense colors.

[CrazyLionfish]

I don't think that is actulley his wrasse, the bright blue one, i think he got that off a website.

[ACBlinky]

That's not mine, mine is the blurry one in the first post I linked the other one from the website named in the post - it wasn't the only pic I found of a 'supermale' that colour, but it was the best of the bunch. Hopefully it wasn't inappropriate to show it for 'educational purposes'.

killagoby, I'm guessing you've definitely got a male - nice colours!
Becky, holy cow! Gwynnie and Luby could be twins! I have got to get a better camera so I can take clear pics like you guys

I've asked over at reefs.org, they've confirmed that s/he's a Lubbock's all right, but no one's indicated if they know the sex. I did read that they're all female to start with, born with ovaries, but I don't know if males will revert back to females or stay male when kept alone.
This is fascinating to me - who says fish are boring?!

Oh... BTW guys... I'm a 'she', not a 'he'

ADD --> Looks like I spoke too soon... Len, the acknowledged wrass expert over at reefs.org, says it looks like I've got a male! I guess it's time to stop calling him 'pretty girl', change his name and start telling him how handsome he is - this is going to take some getting used to!

[Dejan]

really?? i thought it looks like C. flavidorsalis... i have kept both lubbocks as well, but it doesnt look totally right... notice the white on the undersiide??

[killagoby]

Originally posted by ACBlinky

killagoby, I'm guessing you've definitely got a male - nice colours!

Thank you. That shot was on the 1st day I got him he's colored up since then...

[Jeremy Blaze]

Females usually have a large line on the top of the first half of the body, it the starts a new line just below the first running to the tail.

[ACBlinky]

Thanks Jeremy, I did some research and found pics just as you describe. It's amazing how much the colours of this species can vary, but they're all gorgeous