flasher wrasse question...

[jaymz101]

Does anyone know if flasher wrasses are protandrous or protogynous hermaphrodites? Are they even hermaphroditic at all? Im particularly interested in filamented flashers and need to know if I can just get 4 young ones and theyll even out or if I need to buy 1 male and 3 females right off the bat. Anybody?

[lazaro torres]

Ive got several different flasher wrasses,some have jumped out cause the females were to ugly and it couldn't handle it, lol.

[jaymz101]

Did you have to buy males and females or did they change sex and even out the ratio?

[ichthyman]

protogynous

[jaymz101]

Thanks John. Hoping you would chime in...

[mflamb]

For those confused, here is a little bit of info:
http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/articles/2002/hermaphroditism.html

[lazaro torres]

that was good info thier mflamb, giving and showing with pics,info,etc helps a lot more.Some of you guys are really advancded with just a word for some of us rookie's,(like me).Giving info with links helps.Thanks everybody.

[mflamb]

I learned a lot myself on this one.

[jaymz101]

Sorry. Didnt mean to go over anyone's heads with that. I forget that not everyone is a biologist. That link is great though. Really gets to the nuts and bolts of hermaphroditism.

[stevemc]

Quite a few marine reef fish are hermaphrodites. I didnt read the link, but Anthius are like wrasses, in that one will turn into a male if a male is taken out or if there is only females or juvies. We got a squamipinnus anthius from somebody here about 2-3 weeks ago. They said it was a male Red Sea anthius. I had no idea what it was since the picture was a whole tank and I could see that it was orange. It WAS a female, and now changing to a male( it was kept by itself-no other anthius) but it had not changed all the way and was still orange, but had the spots on its pectoral fins and the long dorsal filament. It seems they change faster if kept in a group, same with wrasses. A single will turn into a male( unlike clowns or damsels, which a single turns into a female) but if kept with others, it(wrasse)will be much larger(supermale quicker) than the single kept male. Make any sense?

[jaymz101]

word...

[stevemc]

OOps! Your question isnt exactly answered is it? Either way will get you a male and 3 females. If you get the small ones, usually they are adults(in the trade) and usually you get the males, but back to if you use small ones, it will take a long time, a year or so, maybe less, depending on how old they are when you aquire them. But the best would be if you get them as adults, then no waiting. The Atlantic Blue head wrasses, as several others of the same genus, do the same, but also have a "born male". The blue head born male will have bright blue eyes, and a female to male will have black eyes, and not as defined, even if it gets older and becomes a "supermale". I dont know for sure about flasher wrasses. Hogfish the common hogfish species maximus, when it changes to a male, can change back and forth for a while, at least the coloring, but once it is a supermale-thick dark forehead, pale body with a black outlined caudal fin, and huge teeth and extended mouth parts, and huge body size, it wont change back.