Photo-documentation of M. meleagris sex change

[OrionN]

Here are pictures of my Juvenile Meleagris Leopard changes to terminal male


4/5/2020 two of the 4 in the harem, the largest that will become male and one of the smaller one. Changes already happens here with the black spots start to line up and merge, darker blue in compare to juveniles and females

4/5/2020 one of the female/juvenile

4/10/2020 The changing male. The first sign of the change is the alignment of the spots to form lines

4/16/2022
Another female

7/9/2020
More spots alignment, and the front part of the dorsal fin start to turn bright red. The black spots enlarge and lightened. The female has blue color with black spots and as the sex change progress, the male wrasse has brownish color with blue spots. The most prominent color chang eis the red front of the dorsal. This red and black spot plays a dominant roll in nuptial display.

7/18/2020. The body pattern is clearly brown with blue spots now. The alignment of the spots are not completly straight yet.

9/5/2020. Change completed.

9/5/2020. Nuptial display

 

[Flatearth]

Love seeing stuff like this! How long did this take total?

 

[OrionN]

Love seeing stuff like this! How long did this take total?

I edited the post to put in the dates and my observation of the important changes of the process. April to September 2020

 

[MEPAWN35]

This is so cool to see! Thank you for sharing!

 

[jkcoral]

This is such an awesome post. It is so interesting that such a significant transition and change happens relatively quickly in a couple of months.

How long did you have the harem of 4 in your tank before the transition occurred?

Beautiful fish, and great photos!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Wow this is really cool!

 

[Flatearth]

Is it a peaceful harem or it is more like other wrasse where the male is pretty bad to the females?

 

[violetjones]

Amazing thank you for sharing

 

[Griev]

I've got a harem of 3 juveniles in my 200, my male is just starting to transition. Appreciate these details on what to expect and look for!

 

[OrionN]

Love seeing stuff like this! How long did this take total?

I started this harem about May or June 2019. They were all very young wrasse. About 10 months or so to start changing. About 2-3 months to complete the change.

This is such an awesome post. It is so interesting that such a significant transition and change happens relatively quickly in a couple of months.

How long did you have the harem of 4 in your tank before the transition occurred?

Beautiful fish, and great photos!

Thanks. 10 months from young wrasse at about1.5 inches to be mature enough to change sex. 3 motnhs for him to complete changing.

Is it a peaceful harem or it is more like other wrasse where the male is pretty bad to the females?

The harem is great, peaceful. They sleep within a few inches from each other so it is really a "family". The male chase the female slightly. None of my females ever got wounded or even torn fin from the male.

 

[Lowsingle]

Thanks for sharing! I have never had any luck keeping leopard wrasses longer than a year or two

Darren

 

[mexi757]

That is amazing you did that. I definitely should have done the same. I’ve had mine for 3 year and seen it all. Thanks for this post.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Here are pictures of my Juvenile Meleagris Leopard changes to terminal male


4/5/2020 two of the 4 in the harem, the largest that will become male and one of the smaller one. Changes already happens here with the black spots start to line up and merge, darker blue in compare to juveniles and females
View attachment 3166950

4/5/2020 one of the female/juvenile
View attachment 3166951

4/10/2020 The changing male. The first sign of the change is the alignment of the spots to form lines
View attachment 3166948


4/16/2022
Another female
View attachment 3166853

7/9/2020
More spots alignment, and the front part of the dorsal fin start to turn bright red. The black spots enlarge and lightened. The female has blue color with black spots and as the sex change progress, the male wrasse has brownish color with blue spots. The most prominent color chang eis the red front of the dorsal. This red and black spot plays a dominant roll in nuptial display.
View attachment 3166862


7/18/2020. The body pattern is clearly brown with blue spots now. The alignment of the spots are not completly straight yet.
View attachment 3166863

9/5/2020. Change completed.
View attachment 3166864

9/5/2020. Nuptial display
View attachment 3166865

Beautiful photos!!

 

[Crabby48]

Thanks for sharing. Wish I could have gotten good photos of all my wrasse transitioning