Flame wrasses... few questions and pics

[ghstrider]

Hey guys, picked up this pair today and I know I have a male and female or is the female turning male? Also, Im a bit confused with all the terminology reference "terminal" and "super" males etc. Flame wrasse experts can you chime in and lemme know what exactly I got?

The male is 4" and the female is 3-3.5" and both are in the display hiding at the moment. Oh, any ideas on getting them in the feeding mix and getting them to come out in the next few days? I tried placing them in an acclimation box but the male jumped from my hand into the tank missing the box so I dumped the female in with him... So far so good (only my regal chased the F out of his hole).

<a href="http://s1030.photobucket.com/albums/y364/garcia751/?action=view&amp;current=e579ec88.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1030.photobucket.com/albums/y364/garcia751/e579ec88.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

closeup of the male...
<a href="http://s1030.photobucket.com/albums/y364/garcia751/?action=view&amp;current=a5b416df.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1030.photobucket.com/albums/y364/garcia751/a5b416df.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[ghstrider]

these were during acclimation... When inside the display, the female has developed the striping on the face (even tho in this pic it isnt showing). The stripe is very pronounced but the body colors look like this acclimation pic.

[ghstrider]

Anyone?? Where are those wrasse experts?

[prop-frags]

I`m not an expert, but I have had two Flame wrasses for well over a year. They were sold as a "mated pair". What I got, was a gorgeous Super Male and a juvenile that may have actually been a male all along. Anyway, the juvenile grew into a very nice looking Sub-adult male. I can't see enough of the fish in your pic to tell, but if you are seeing yellow coloring on the face and/or underbelly, then it is definitely male.

Here's a thread (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2030345&highlight=female+flame) that may help in your identification.

Here are a couple of pics of my Flames:

Our Super Male in the middle of a display:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/4940932044/" title="fw 447 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4940932044_e2c60e2971_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="fw 447"></a>

Sub-adult Male:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryl93/5795742803/" title="nt 1107 by terryl93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5031/5795742803_64e00dd000_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="nt 1107"></a>

[ghstrider]

Heres a shot of the "female" in the display. Sorry for the iphone pic

<a href="http://s1030.photobucket.com/albums/y364/garcia751/?action=view&amp;current=3865eac3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1030.photobucket.com/albums/y364/garcia751/3865eac3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[prop-frags]

That looks like a male to me.

[Beach Bum 70]

Eddie long time your tank looks good....
nice fish you have been getting.{flame Wrasses, BLK Tang} Are you getting these here in Miami?
let me know
Thanks
Jason

[launchnukes]

that looks like a male to me.

+1

[philter4]

Looks like a female to me, especially in the acclamation container. I have a photo of some we collected off the southern part of Oahu, you can clearly see the color pattern of the females is distinct from the male. I can't say for a fact that I am correct, many wrasses have a sub-dominant male color that is the same or very similar to a female, but once in your tank for an extended period of time you will start to see if there are true secondary color pattern of the males.

Collection bucket with the flame wrasse pairs
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd31/philter4/fish%20and%20diving/PA110585.jpg