pink streak wrasse - Pseudocheilinops ataenia

[thumbsy]

I bought this fish last week and I'm hoping to get some opinions on if it's a male or female.

It's only about 1.5 inches long, so pretty small. I'm leaning towards a female.

Thoughts or opinions are welcome.

 

[tcmfish]

Get another and see which one is dominant.

 

[Terryz_]

Is it even possible to tell male from female??

 

[small alien]

OP, what makes you lean towards it being a female? Long eyelashes?

 

[thumbsy]

My understanding is the males tend to have brighter colors and a bit more blue around the eyes then the females, but maybe there are other differences like larger dorsal fins, or darker ventral fins or something.

Since the only one I've ever seen in person is the one I currently have, I don't know how much brighter or how much blue a male vs female would have. I was hoping someone who has seen or owned a pair would chime with their opinion.

 

[small alien]

Interesting. Very cute fish. Good luck with it and finding it a friend. :rollface:

 

[serval]

I have a pair of these. I got them together, hoping one would either be dominant already or would become dominant and it seems to have worked. I think the one I call dominant is the male. There is very little difference in color between them. My "female" has more tiny black dots on her body (in addition to the pink and orange striping). I don't see this on yours and maybe it just coincidental on mine. Also, a weird thing: My "male" is what I would call pink with orange stripes and the "female" is orange with pink stripes. I know you are going to ask me how I tell between background color and stripes and my answer is that the stripes are narrower; thus the "male" is pinker. I can see no difference in how much blue either of them has and this is supposed to be a gender difference.

In the evenings, after their dinner, but before lights out, the "male" gets all excited and displays to the "female" and his colors change so that he has very light whitish vertical stripes on his body. He can change back and forth between no vertical stripes and having some in an instant. I like these fish a lot.

 

[thumbsy]

Also, a weird thing: My "male" is what I would call pink with orange stripes and the "female" is orange with pink stripes. I know you are going to ask me how I tell between background color and stripes and my answer is that the stripes are narrower; thus the "male" is pinker.

I found a google picture of a pair and they did look a bit different and I couldn't put my finger on it, but I think that's it.

So, looking at my pic, would you say I have a female or male? Seems like the orange stripes are a bit thicker to my eye, but then again I'm biased because I'm hoping it's a female.

 

[serval]

I am guessing yours is currently female. Who knows what would happen if you introduce a second one; certainly one will be dominant and that one will be the male. I have a picture here of the one in my tank I call the male; you can see the colors are pretty clear.