Mystery Wrasse Quesiton.

[wickedfish]

I bought a mystery wrasse at one of the local LFS stores last sat Extreme Marine in Ventura, CA. For $75 with 30% off sale. I only paid $60 for it. They told me it was a male because its bars going down the side. I was going to get a pair but didnt. I went in today and bought a female for $75 and suppisbly the males cost $100 now. I asked why the price difference. They told me because the males are hard to get. Now i was reading that wrasses can changes there sex. Is that true. Anyone know the difference between male and female why, the male would cost more. I know the price was a steeler. There both in my Q.T tank. Im going to put them in the display in a couple of weeks.

[sedor]

I haven't done any research on mystery wrasses, but I do know that clownfish demonstrate a sex change. The more dominant fish always becomes the female, and once the change has been made they don't go back if I remember correctly. That could be why they claim its harder to get a male...

[jc16]

i'm not sure but all the mystery wrasses i've seen look the same can tell the different in sex. but i know the bars your are talking about come from a certain region if i have not mistaken. i have kept one and bars slowly disappeared as it grew larger

[LKGRenegade22]

Every mystery I have seen has also looked the same. I know 4 different people that have one including me and they all look the same. Never heard the bars had anything to do with sex. They do tend to fade with age but even on a mature fish he can flash his bars when he wants. Regardless $60 makes me sick. Even at $100 that is a good deal. I paid $150 for mine and don't regret it at all.

[wickedfish]

Thanks for the comments. I know i been trying to google research cant find anything. But i have seen some online with bars and with out. From the comments above. The one i picked up last sat has bars going down. The one i picked up today does not. There the same size about 2 inches. There not fighting in the q.t tank at all. Just eating happily and curious looking around the L.R in there. Yeah, $60 was defently a steeler. I should of bought a pair then. for 120. Oh well, i ended up spending 15 extra today for the other. Im lucky to live right in between the border line of Ventura and L.A county. So many LFS stores. Anyone around I defently Recommend Marine Extreme in Ventura, CA or Vivid Aquariums in Canoga Park or Ocean Pro in Reseda. My 3 number 1 LFS stores with the best prices and Lifestock.

[LKGRenegade22]

I'm on the East Coast. I know all Hawaii fish are alot more expensive here but I quit worrying about what things cost in this hobby a long time ago. :)

[wickedfish]

Yeah, You pay what you get. As long as it worth it. Yeah, pretty much i just wanted to know how can you tell if its F or M. Thanks for the opinion. I been trying to google it all day. Cant find no answear. They dont seem to be fighting. Its wierd. I read you can only have one per tank and like i posted. One has bars and the other doesnt.

[lilchris]

I don't think wrasses change there sex. I have been keeping them for a while now i have not come across anything saying they can change sex. The intensity of the bars come from whether or not they are adults or juveniles. As the wrasse gets mature the lines fades or even disappear. If I am not mistaking you can normally tell the sex by how vivarant the colors are. Male wrasses have very deep and vivarant colration to them while the female colors are pale not as popping as the male.
I don't have any hard reference to back up my cmments but I did read this http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/wrasses/MysteryWrasse.php
It is a .com site so take it for what it is worth.

[wickedfish]

Cool, yeah i read that site allready. I was just wondering. What amazes me. Is that i have both of them in the same Q.T tank. and they are not fighting. So i guess one is f and the other m. But they look exatctly in like in colors there about 2 inches. Just that one has the bars and the other doesnt. Oh, well. As long as there not fighting and there healthy. Why ask, hahaha. Thank you.

[nikon187]

Wrasses do in fact change sex from female to male if needed. The bars on the side if the mystery wrasses has to do with the location they were collected, NOT there sex. A small mystery wrasse ( female) will change into a male in time.

[wickedfish]

oh, ok. I see so both are from differet locations then. But i read that the bars seem to disappear when they get older. Well, then one with bars cost more then the ones with out. So i figure the ones with bars were harder to catch or somewhere way out there. I tried googling mystery wrasse info on the bars and with out or sex. Cant find anything..

[wickedfish]

I finally, Put both mystery wrasse's in reg. 120 gallon tank yesterday with A.tusk and Purple tang with no problems so far. Local, LFS owner explained to me when there juvi about 2 inchs the males have stripes and females dont. They fade away. While there juvi's you can tell which are f or m. He explained to me you always put the F first then the M. If they were both Males they would be killing each other. So pretty much i have to agree. Even though i havent found anything online to prove that. Im very happy.

[tcmfish]

Those from the Marshall Islands lose the bars with age, those from Vanutu keep the bars with age. They are protogynous hermaphrodites meaning female first. Clownfish are protandric hermaphrodites meaning male first and are one of the few. Most fish are female first. If you really wanted to pair them get a big one and the smallest one you could find. Its really not that hard, and many people have paired the similar sixline wrasse, but the cost of the mysteries is the reason, I think, we don't see more pairs of them.

Also for those of you that didn't think wrasses change sex, what about all the fairy wrasses that display sexual dimorphism? And there are many wrasses and parrotfish that have female (always first and the smaller, youngest fish), initial male, and terminal male phases.

One of my favorite examples is the stoplight parrotfish Sparisoma viride, it has such a dramatic color change.

[wickedfish]

Those from the Marshall Islands lose the bars with age, those from Vanutu keep the bars with age. They are protogynous hermaphrodites meaning female first. Clownfish are protandric hermaphrodites meaning male first and are one of the few. Most fish are female first. If you really wanted to pair them get a big one and the smallest one you could find. Its really not that hard, and many people have paired the similar sixline wrasse, but the cost of the mysteries is the reason, I think, we don't see more pairs of them.

Also for those of you that didn't think wrasses change sex, what about all the fairy wrasses that display sexual dimorphism? And there are many wrasses and parrotfish that have female (always first and the smaller, youngest fish), initial male, and terminal male phases.

One of my favorite examples is the stoplight parrotfish Sparisoma viride, it has such a dramatic color change.


Well, my wrasse seemed to be pairedf fine. Even, though i bought the female first the one with out lines 2inch and then a week later the male the one with lines a lil bit over 2 inches. I did notice the male was a lil bit bigger and more active then the female. They were doing fine in the Q.T tank and now swimming around fine in my 120 gallon reef tank. I pretty much bought them because of there colors and also the price. i bought the female for $60 and male for $75. I dont know if there marshal or vanatu. I seen in there display tanks they also have a pair 4 inch swimming around one with lines and one with out. But hey thanks for the advice. I just wanted to know if wht they were saying was true. Because i cant find anything about that online. I tried googling it.

[wickedfish]

Update, Both Mystery Wrasses are doing fine in the 120 gallon with my aus. tusk and p. tang. No problems. Going to upgrade the tank with in the next couple of months. I cant find anything about there sex's i tried googling forever now. Except for my local LFS owner telling me that the male has stripes and female doesnt. The female with no stripes is about 1 in a half and the male with stripes is about 2 inches. So i guess he is right. Im going to post up some pics.

[Sharkey350]

I have owned my share of Mystery Wrasse's . Once they are full grown I keep for awhile then trade back. This last time was amazing. We put the two new ones in and my buddy noticed one was much more colorful . Also usually they separate but these two stayed together. And the one whose colors were standing out defended the lighter colored one. I saw in a blog guys asking how can you tell . They are just like the Naoko Wrasse . The male is more colorful . If there was only one and you had never seen it before you might not notice. But having both in my tank It seems clear to me. The male has these colors that just pop