ember blenny

[Myka]

Originally Posted by dc4

I was reading about them and found the info here:
http://blog.aquanerd.com/2011/07/hot...veaquaria.html

I don't know who that author is, but I'm quite sure he is mistaken. I know someone who had a breeding pair of Ember Blennies and he said they looked identical. I've never seen any visual differences in paired Blennies of any species. Blennies generally do not get along with eachother unless they are a pair. If your two fish do not get along it is pretty safe to assume they are both the same sex. I would not count on any sex changes.

Generally, you need to take any breeding/pairing information with a grain of salt as most reefers don't actually know too much about breeding and pairing marine fish. The author above says most reef fish change sex, and that is definitely not true. Some reef fish do, some don't. Of those fish that do change sex, many of them can only change at a very young age and they are usually past that stage when they are collected for the aquarium trade. For example, Dwarf Angelfish change sex, but only when about 1 to 1 1/2" long, after that their sex is fixed even if there is a shortage of the opposite sex in the breeding grounds they cannot change. Clownfish can change from male to female at any point in their lives, but once they before a female they can never go back to being a male. Fish like Anthias and Wrasse are the opposite of Clownfish - they start female and can change to male at any point.

[George]

Originally Posted by Myka

...For example, Dwarf Angelfish change sex, but only when about 1 to 1 1/2" long, after that their sex is fixed even if there is a shortage of the opposite sex in the breeding grounds they cannot change. Clownfish can change from male to female at any point in their lives, but once they before a female they can never go back to being a male...

Off topic but...
There are reports of angelfish in the Genicanthus genus can change from male to female. Of course you can argue that Genicanthus angels are not really dwarf angels. The reason this sex change is easily observed in Genicanthus angelfish is because male and female usually have different patterns and colors.
Also all clowns born with no sex (or with both sexes?) They will change to one or the other later on depending on the pecking order.

[Myka]

^ I didn't mention anything about large Angels. I didn't feel like listing every genus of fish out there...just a few common ones. Yes, you're right about the Clownfish, as I said, they can change from male to female at any point in their lives. There are a lot of different possibilities...reef fish are so different from one another, and we are just learning about their breeding habits.