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View Full Version : fairy wrasse killed by mate?


ObscurityKnocks
03/17/2006, 08:14 PM
Back in November I bought a Male and female Peacock wrasse:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1555&N=0

The male looked very much like picture A in Rudie Kuiter's book.
The "female" was smaller than the male but was completely marroon red. The females/juveniles in the book all appear greenish.

Anyway, I have seen the male flash the female several times and he always was the dominant of the two.

But tonight I was shocked when I went to feed my tank. I noticed the "female" was chasing the male and was flashing the male, stomach turned a bright white the male.

Long story short either the "female" chased the male into the liverock or "she" bit him because he appears to have a wound to the head and has wedged himself into the rock and is now breathing heavily.

It's not looking good. So any ideas what happened here? Did I actually get a juvenile that was becoming a male and has finally matured? Did the male know this was another male and was trying to assert his dominince early on with the flashing? Or was this a female that for some reason turned into a male? I know it's only been 5 months but in the entire time they seemed to hang out most of the time and there was never any aggression until tonight.

Any opinions and do you think I should ask for a refund for the male in the event he dies?