My fish is changing!

[Kelly]

As some of you may know, I've kept a Macropharyngodon Negrosensis (black leopard wrasse) for almost 3 years now. I'm very familiar with all the fish in this Genus as they are all born females, and 99% of the ones you see for sale are females. It seems my healthy girl is turning into a male! I've noted this in her color for about 1 week now. All the females look like this:
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Mine has looked like this representative photo for almost 3 years.

As of a few days now, I've noticed the bulk of her white spots have faded away, and her face spots are fading together with a hint of teal. This is my terrible iPhone photo of her just minutes ago. I hope you may tell she's moving away from the female appearance.
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She now looks like Liveaquaria's default image for the species which has always bugged me. This image "bugs me" because it is of a transitioning example. (Female to male), seen here: *note the face and lack of white body spots
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Finally, here we have what she is turning into. This "super male" example resides at the Long Island Aquarium in NY with a small harem of females:
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I'll keep this updated as I watch this unfold.
Thanks for looking!

 

[melev]

Cool beans!

 

[Eckolancer]

Going to get a second one and start breeding?


Sent from pay phone in the airport.

 

[Bangemslim]

The female is nice but that male is really cool. It's so fascinating to me but I'm only used to Vlamingiis gaining some freckles and streamers. Lol not a major change like that! Are you excited that you're getting to experience the transition?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DetroitRodeo]

Very nice! I have a female (Macropharyngodon meleagris) and am thinking of adding a couple more, as I prefer the female coloration on the meleagris. My next tank is going to be a leopard wrasse tank. Absolutely stunning fish!


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[Omert]

Very Cool! I want to try a black leopard one day. My leopard just finished changing also.

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[Kelly]

@Marc wrote:

Thank you Marc. I saw a photo online of you feeding the Long Island Aquarium from one of the service catwalks. What a neat experience!
@Eckolancer wrote:

That sounds like an exciting idea, but no fish in this genus will likely breed successfully in captivity. I also don't have the space to build a dedicated aquarium for such nuptials to take place in.
@Bangemslim wrote:

Thank you, yes. I am very excited to see this unfold. I have never had anything change on me.
@DetroitRodeo wrote:

They are among my favorites for sure. If you refer to the wrasse thread in my signature, you will find that several local hobbyist keep multiple species of genus Macropharyngodon in their tanks. Thanks!
@Omert wrote:

Great looking fish! How long did you have your female before she started to change? Then, once changing- How long did the change take to complete?

Thank you all for the interest in my post! [smilie=clapping.gif] [smilie=clapping.gif] [smilie=clapping.gif] [smilie=clapping.gif]

 

[Omert]

My brother had her for one year and then I got her in Jan when he moved his tank. I have tried to put a potters, radiant and another female leopard in the tank but she killed them. I think she may have started to change after the potters wrasse, she became very aggressive and grew a lot all at once right before she changed, I would say this all happened with in 6 weeks and the change has been happening for a couple months. He is now getting a yellow mark showing up now on his side which at first he didn't. One thing I have learned is that wrasses are about as aggressive to each other like tangs, put them all in at once. This pic shows what he looked like within two weeks, he is now getting a bright yellow marking now.

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