leopard wrasse pair?

[telamont]

I have two leopard wrasse. One is larger than the other. It bullies the other smaller one. The smaller one is over half the size the larger. They look identical as far as I can tell. With this species of fish, will one turn female or male while the other stays the opposite sex? Is it normal for a pair of wrasse to pick on eachother? Maybe they feel cramped so theyre a tad aggressive towards eachother. There is no physical damage its just a little chasing and maybe a peck or two from the larger wrasse. Could one be a female and the other male and they just will not pair? Could they both be either male or female and it will never change?

Thanks for the help!

[eatbreakfast]

In the wild leopard wrasses are found in harems. The bullying you are noticing is just the dominant fish trying to stay dominant.

Sometimes having another individual in the tank will make the dominant fish turn male.

However, I have noticed M. meleagris not tolerating any other specimens in the tank, not other leopards or Halichoeres wrasses, and that was in a 200g tank.

But I have had success keeping multiple individuals of other Macropharyngodon species in a tank together.

[triggreef]

interesting, I have 2 meleagris and one bipartus and they don't bother with each other. One of the meleagris is double the size of the other. They are with an exquisite fairy, solarensis, melenuris, and cleaner wrasse in a 72g.

I just got a 200g deep dimensions to move them all into. No agression in the 72, but there is also a ton of LR and corals for them to swim around. Some are pretty large too esp the melenuris he's about 5 1/2 inches.

[telamont]

Thanks for your responses.

My wrasse are both m meleagris.

The case must be the dominant one trying to stay dominant.

So it only sometimes may turn male? Does anyone know how this works or why and if it actually is definite that it will change sex?
Are both mine female then? How were you able to tell from what I wrote?

Thanks again!!

[evolved]

Wrasse are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning they are all born female and can transition to male. They will transition to male as the environment requires. In a harem, there is typically one terminal male amongst many conspecific females, with a few sub-males in the mix (essentially, ones waiting to fill the terminal male's slot when he ends up missing - dead or prayed upon). Wrasses do not "pair"; it's all about the dominance of the terminal male over the submissive females.

The Macropharygodon genus, like many others, is also sexually dichromatic, meaning there is a visually difference in appearance between males/females. In the case of M. meleagris:

Male:

Originally Posted by Fishbase.org

Female:

Originally Posted by Fishbase.org

From what you wrote, we can't know. Pictures would be required for that.

You could have two females, trying to assert their hierarchy, which occurs in the wild and in captivity. You could have two males, with one trying to kick the other out of his territory. Or you could have a male and female, with the male establishing his dominance. The only problematic scenario being the two male scenario.

With two females, there is no guarantee one will transition. It is eventually likely, but not assured. And when that might happen or how long it will take, there is no near a definite answer.

[telamont]

man thanks for the info. nice reply.

[telamont]

Does either the female or male turn blue when larger ?

[evolved]

Males can get blue-ish, but the teal-green you see in the above holotype is most common.

Live Aquaria's photo shows blue in the extreme sense:

[telamont]

Beautiful fish!

[R-nel]

One of my leopard turn male 3 years ago, he chases the female for an hour each time they get up out the sand bed then they swim together the rest of the day. They do this every day....I call them Mr. And Mrs. Smith, the male is beautiful with that deep blue coloring. My two favorite fish been with me for a long time.

[Sense of nature]

Bump from the dead, I am in the same boat, 2 meleagris, one is constantly chasing & nipping the other, bot are either female or juveniles as they both have the same spots.
My question is does the chasing stop? or will it get worse? mine are in a 210 w/ plenty of LR & hiding places.
This was the only thread that related to my situation & I didn't want to start a new thread
Thanks

[vangoghfish]

Okay I have two, the first one in tank is a smaller 1.5-2" female, I added in a very small male, slightly smaller than the female, no doubt a mail due to color, the larger female keeps chasing the male, wondering if it was ready to begin becoming a male, or simply the dominant thing since she was in the tank first. I actually removed a cherub angel that was harassing the new small male, cherub also harassed a small black wrasse same size as cherub, cherub in time out in a mother tank for a week or so, will move back maybe in a couple of weeks or so, please do chime in the male and female are very close in size, the male a tad smaller, bother eating and sleeping in sand regularly. For a week or two they had opposite sleeping schedules in sand, now they overlap a good part of the day.

[vangoghfish]

BTW the small black wrasse did not make it, I believe harassed two much to truely acclimate also slept in sand 2-3 days at a time.

[vangoghfish]

Okay, I have two small leopard wrasses, 1.5-2", both are very close in size, the female was first, I added in a slightly smaller male, both doing very well, great eaters.
The slightly larger well and pre-established female harasses the smaller male more often than not, although they are coexisting now for a 3 weeks , amazingly fast fish, when the female is chasing the male.
Will this possibly cease, or can it continue until the female kills or forces the male out of the tank. There are moments, when they are right next to each other, and female does not bother the male. Do males eventually grow larger than females or not really, please do chime in. I will post photos later or tomorrow possibly, as mentioned they are both considered small in size, surely not medium IMO

[vangoghfish]

Actually this is surely the smallest male I have seen todate. A lucky find, and sold without the male premium price, was surprised. I would say about 1/2 of the way changed color wise.

[lionfish300]

I bought 3 female Leopard wrasse one of them are turning male with the blue color

[carrots]

Lionfish, what size was yours when it started turning into a male?

[ca1ore]

My meleagris appears to have gotten stuck. Face and head is male coloration, rest of body remains female coloration - been that way for months. Approx 3 1/2" long with a smaller 10o% female compatriot.

[lionfish300]

Originally Posted by carrots

Lionfish, what size was yours when it started turning into a male?

The bigger one of the three turned male, he must be around 3 1/2" or little bigger

[maroun.c]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

My meleagris appears to have gotten stuck. Face and head is male coloration, rest of body remains female coloration - been that way for months. Approx 3 1/2" long with a smaller 10o% female compatriot.

could be some other wrass in the tank dominating him and keeping him from turning male. mine has been a female since years. for a short time i saw the start of a change and it paused.