Thalassoma amblycephalum Sexual Dimorphism... dichromatism
3/21/07
Hi,
<Hello.>
What are the identifying characteristics to look for in distinguishing a male
paddlefin wrasse from a female? There is one at my LFS that has a blue head
with a yellow band behind its head with a red body that has a faint white stripe
that runs horizontally along its body. Is this a male or female? Someone told
me that the females have this white horizontal stripe, but someone else told me
that the males have white vertical lines across their bodies and that they are
more colorful than the females. Can you please help me in knowing which is
which. Some pics of males vs. females would be very helpful.
<Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/thalassoma.htm...will answer your question and
contains pics too. For what it's worth males are easily distinguishable and
females/juvies are not imported as much. The one in the store from description
alone is surely a male.>
Thanks,
Gary
<Adam J.>
Wrasse id
I am wondering what kind of wrasse this is, can you help me?
<Of all things... we're currently out at the Hawai'i house, and this is
the most common fish on the reefs here... and an endemic. Please see here
re: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/thalassoma.htm
Bob
Fenner>
Thanks, Codie |
Wrasse ID
I just sent an email earlier and I still am not sure of the wrasse that I
have? It the Thalassoma dupery or the Thalassoma grammacticum or is
it
neither? I believe the fish has not matured yet. see attachment.
<It's the former. Pls see the previous citation. Bob Fenner>
Thank you for your help, Codie |
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Re: Help???
Dear Jason,
Thanks so much for the helpful info. <<absolutely my pleasure.>>
Just to clarify -- are you saying that my Rock wrasse (which I'm hoping he's
really that! -- he doesn't look like the picture on your website. . . he's got
about 4-5 horizontal rows of different colors -- pink, green, yellow???)really
isn't happy in the tank? <<well ok, looking at wrasses that match that
description... can't seem to find one, did you search through the WWM Wrasse
pages to see if you can find a match? Likely this one has had the wrong name
applied - and if this is the case, then my previous statement about this fish
not liking tropical temperatures would be moot. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/wrasses.htm
>>
Speaking of cool water, we recently did increase our temperature to 79
degrees when our local store told us that we were keeping the tank too cold at
74. <<74 is cool, but anywhere in the range of 72 - 80F should be
good.>> Could this increase in heat be the reason he is changing colors
sometimes? <<Yes, perhaps, good to take this adjustment slowly - a degree
or two each 24 hours.>> How do you know if he's "happy" or not?
<<Is it eating? Interacting with other fish, decor, rocks - looking at you
- or is it completely clamped up in a corner by a heater never coming out to eat
or see its surroundings. These are generalities of course, but it should the
fish should be out, about, and eating - color changes mean all kinds of things -
mood, etc. Perhaps make your way to a public aquarium if you can so you can see
the same in a different surrounding.>> Could it really be him growing into
adulthood because he is getting larger and larger by the day -- growing very
fast. <<always a possibility >> (Please excuse my stupidity. . I'm
VERY new to this!) <<not stupid at all, a very valid
question.>>
I gather that you agree to leave the Clown alone and see what happens.
Until then don't add more fish? <<yes>> However, he's getting
increasingly better each day -- once the white spots are gone for good can I
assume he is well? <<not really a safe assumption, is why you need to
leave and watch for a couple of weeks - make certain.>>
At what point is it safe to introduce another fish? <<personally, I never
introduce more than one animal in a month unless they are tiny. I just like to
take it slow and see what happens, give everything time to adjust.>>
One more question (sorry if I'm overwhelming you) would you recommend a
fresh water dip for any new fish before you introduce them into the family tank?
<<not overwhelmed yet. as long as you pH adjust the freshwater,
yes.>>
Thanks so much! I'm so glad I found your website! It's a great source of
knowledge! :)
<<Glad you enjoy the website, although it's not actually mine, I just hang
out here. Cheers, J -- >>
Re: Help???
Oh My Gosh! This is so exciting! I researched the wrasse family on the
wetwebsite and found a picture of the one that I have! She is a Thalassoma
Lucasanum (rainbow wrasse)! This is the neat part. . . I found a picture of
the female and that is definitely what I have, BUT, I found a picture of the
MALE and he looks like what my female looks like when she changes color!!!!!
I did further research and found out that the female rainbow wrasse is able
to change sexes during her lifetime! This must be what is happening!
<What a planet!>
This is so cool! Thanks so much for your help!!! :)
<Be chatting and diving. Bob Fenner>
Wrasse Identification
Hi, I have been eyeing a wrasse at the LFS for the last few weeks and decided to finally pick it up. Because it kind of just laid around I
wasn't sure of its health especially as I hadn't seen one like this before.
<Likely a Thalassoma lutescens: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/thalassoma.htm
>
Most wrasses I have had/have are energetic swimmers.
<Mmm, many species spend a considerable amount of time sitting about on or in the substrate>
But, I attributed this to its housing at the LFS, which was a small cube. It was labeled generically as Green Halichoeres Wrasse. But, he was
unusual so picked him up after seeing him digging and apparently healthy after a few weeks, though still not swimming much. I got him home and
acclimated him. After releasing him, he just fluttered to the bottom (44 gal corner, with 2 small Chromis). I had brought water to the LFS
before buying for a test and everything was nominal (8.3ph, 1.022 salinity, 0 ammonia, nitrates, nitrites). It's a well established tank
that I recently moved some fish out of and to another tank. He "rested" upside down for hours, but his eyes showed he was awake and aware as they
were looking around constantly. I had seen this somewhat before with wrasses being paranoid or scared and usually digging in for a while.
Later at night he hid behind some rocks, then finally came out and swam close to the bottom for few minutes and then used his head as a shovel
and dug a hole for the night. This took about 10 minutes, then he finally did that squirming I'm used to for wrasses to get the rest of
his body under the sand. This following morning (got him yesterday) he was back behind some the rock wall lying down, but again his eyes were
alert and was respiring normally. He doesn't move, at all, quite unlike other wrasses. I am hoping with identification, maybe you can
shed some light on his name and habits so I can see where I stand with this new fish. He is your standard wrasses shape, closer to a dragon
wrasse in shape with less ornamental fins, bright green though. In addition he has enormous canines similar to my Harlequin Tusk. I have
attached 4 pics from when I was acclimating him (I figured this would have been the only chance to photograph him standing still, apparently I
was wrong). Thanks as always. Scott
<Use the scientific name... your search tools... Bob Fenner>
Re: Wrasse Identification
Thanks for the quick reply. I looked at the Thalassoma lutescens, but the one I have looks nothing like the aforementioned fish (Green Moon
wrasse). The Thalassoma lutescens looks very similar to my lunar wrasse, but this one has a completely different mouth. It has huge
canines and cannot close its mouth with them as they are so pronounced, much like my Harlequin Tusk. Is there any other species you might think
it could be that I may be able to research? I looked at your wrasse pages and nothing looks similar.
Thanks again, Scott
<... the genus Thalassoma wrasses do have "large canines"... did you look at the pix on fishbase.org, Google images of this species? Take a look again please... at the pix you sent us. Bob Fenner>
- Lunare Wrasse Problems -
Hi-
I recently got some saltwater fish for my saltwater fish tank. It's a 40 gallon
tank. I had 2 clownfish, and a firefish. They were all living together for about
a week. I just got a lunare wrasse. When I bought it in the store, they told me
it was a marble wrasse, but I looked it up on the internet, and the picture for
the marble wrasse did not look like my fish, but the lunare wrasse picture does.
My fish has a long, green body, with pink swirls on the face and yellow on the
tail, which I think looked like the lunare wrasse. If you could verify that for
me, that would be appreciated. <There are a couple of wrasses that bear this
facial coloration. Would suggest you look here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/thalassoma.htm >
My main concern however, is that the wrasse apparently killed my firefish. They
were fine last night when I first put the wrasse into the tank, and this morning
they were fine too. I went home on my lunch break, and discovered that the
wrasse had the firefish in its mouth, and it was dead. <Circumstantial evidence
- quite possible the poor firefish was already dead before the wrasse decided to
snack on it.>
Now, I was told when I bought the wrasse, that it was a peaceful fish, and would
not harm the other fish. <Mmm... well, it's true to some extent, but they are
territorial and given to fairly boisterous behavior which other fish can find
distressing. Not necessarily mean like a queen trigger.> I really don't think
that the firefish died on its own though, because it seemed to be doing fine.
<Can happen.> I just called the store where I bought the wrasse, and they said
that it was very unusual that the wrasse would kill another fish, even if they
are much smaller than it, and that wrasses are generally peaceful fish.
<Generally. Is like the line from the young girl, Newt, in the movie Aliens,
"The mostly come at night... mostly."> The only thing I can think of is that the
firefish had a long spike on top of it's head that would move up and down, I
wonder if that could have provoked the wrasse. <Doubt it.> Please let me know
what I should do. I don't really want to take the wrasse back to the store
because I like it, and hope that this was a one time thing that happened, but I
don't want it to harm my clownfish, and any other fish that I will get. <Well...
if you truly like this fish, you need to consider your future plans as this tank
is too small for its long term needs.> Please tell me as soon as possible what
to do here. Your response will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.
<Cheers, J -- >
USW - Unidentified Swimming Wrasse 12/10/05
Hi Bob,
<Bob is out diving just like you were, and I bet he's taking pictures too. Today you get Adam helping you out.>
I wonder if you can help me to identify the wrasse on the attached photo?
The picture is a video capture taken in about 30 feet of water off Pacific
Harbour, Fiji. As you can probably see there were a small group living with
damselfish round a small coral head on a wreck.
<Very nice picture, your wrasse looks to be a Thalassoma lunare, most folks just refer to it as the Lunare Wrasse.>
Many thanks
<Quite welcome.>
Colin
<Adam J.> |
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