lubbocks wrasse

[pyroskennels]

Ok so i bought a lubbocks wrasse now how do i find out if its a male or female? It is Orange lavender and blue with the 2 purple stripes. I want to eventually have a male and a couple girls but i have to first sex this one then find the girls or at least i think mines a boy. I will try to get some better pic soon nothing has turned out yet they never stay still.

[Bret61081]

From what my LFS told me was that the males have the bright colors...the females are usually one color...and not very bright...I just added a male exquisit wrasse to my tank and my lubbocks isnt too happy! hopefully it will all pan out...we willsee...if you find find a female, let me know...I wanna see! =)

[picture the reef]

How would the lubbocks do in a bare bottom tank? ie. Do they need a sandbed?

[spsboy]

You can try and contact the marine center, they specialize in rare wrasses and can probably help you out in identifying the male from the female as well as getting you some others.
Drew

[blface]

Females are usually easy to find. Do a search on wet web media. Once you see what a female looks like you'll probably be surprised how many you've seen w/out knowing what they were.

[JeremyT]

Fairy wrasses don't need a SB. They form a cocoon at night when they sleep, alot like a parrotfish.

[ACBlinky]

If you see two horizontal stripes that are offset and join in the middle of the fish, you're looking at a female. Males are bright pink and purple, with yellow fins.

I did a google image search, here's a link (http://images.google.ca/images?q=lubbock%27s+wrasse&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images) . You can see good examples of both male and female, as well as the blue 'super male' colouration (which I've never seen in person).

Here are two pictures of my male, sorry about the quality; these guys are so fast it's hard to get a clear picture!

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a21/ACBlinky/2_wrasse.jpg

[Thurge]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6743816#post6743816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ACBlinky
[B]If you see two horizontal stripes that are offset and join in the middle of the fish, you're looking at a female. Males are bright pink and purple, with yellow fins.

Are these the stripes youare refering to?
http://www.grimreefers.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10022/normal_030-30.jpg

If so its my understanding that the stripes are a regional variation and not an indicator of sex of the fish. If it was mine would probably have lost its striping long ago.


Justdave
quote:
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Originally posted by Lionfan
Dave, is that lubbocki a common pattern with those horizontal black lines. Will he change his pattern in time?
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That pattern is associated to the ones found around the Sangihe region.

[pyroskennels]

Yes those are the 2 stripes im refering to. Mine looks like that but the coloring is diferent. I too read that was a variety found in a certain location. Still not seeing in any pictures what a female should look like. None describe female.

[ACBlinky]

Hmm... It's possible; I'm just going on what I was told when I was trying to ID mine as a male or female, and what I've read.

From Baensch's Marine Atlas, vol. 1, page 826:
"Cirrhilabrus lubbocki
Lubbock's wrasse
Hab.: Indo-Australian archipelago. At depths of 5 to 30m
Sex.: See photos: while the male is primarily red, the female is decorated with two burgundy colored striations. The first runs along the hard-rayed section of the dorsal fin, and the second runs to the caudal peduncle in two segments of different length. this second line lies one scale width under the first and begins where the first terminates."

The pictures indicated show a male that looks very similar to mine, and a female that looks very similar to Thurge's.

[Thurge]

Oh my, that does muddy the waters.
I double checked Kuiter's Fairy Wrasse book, and the only picture of the two striped Lubbock's are labled as males.
We need Bronco777 to weigh in on this, cause I haven't heard of anyway to tell the sexes appart and the only picture of females in Kuiter's book isn't very helpful.

Pyroskennels, mine doesn't have quite the same coloration anymore. He almost has a blue scheen to him, and the orange line between his stripes is now blue/grey. It may just be a case of him hanging out with the Solerinsis too long.

[pyroskennels]

broncos quote
Lubbocks males come in two variations. The Philippines version which is light lavender on the body with a orange dorsal area. there are two dotted black lines across the top dorsal area and towards the back caudal fin. The other lubbocks comes from indonesia and they have more of a marble metallic sheen coloration. Typically a deep metalic purple marbled into orange - yellow blots of color towards the dorsal.

In both cases, wether its from the Philippines or Indonesia the females are a fairly plain pink color throughout the entire body. Likely to have a small black spot at the caudal area leading towards the tail. In this species you can't mistake a male from a female.


now any suggestion as to where to find a female or 2?

[Thurge]

not really. Only suggestion I could make would be to go back through this thread and contact all the shops people mention they have found nice Fairy Wrasses at. You may also notice that there are several people who are LFS owners or managers. They may be constrained from advertising the fish they have, but that doesn't mean you can't contact them to inquire about stock.

Be prepaired for some odd reactions though, as they don't receive many requests for shipping. Thats how I got my Tono's from just dave at Kermits Reef.