Rather perplexed...he is larger than she

Korrine

You could get a ticket!!
I have a Sanjay's Black Photon and a Platinum Picasso clownfish pair. They have been together over a year and are both at least 2 years old.

Clyde, my male, is now larger than the female (Bonnie who is the Platinum). He is still submissive to her and she still rules the roost. Has anyone ever seen or had this occur before?



The 40 build thread for reference
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2059778
 
I have not seen this, but that does not mean it is not possible. Has there been any egg laying to verify that Bonnie is female. I know the behaviors would suggest it, but if she were to lay eggs this would be proof positive.

ETA: I notice you say they were a year old when you got them. Were they by themselves before this? I wonder if they are both female and they are just getting along despite that fact. Just a thought.
 
The Sanjay's was in a tank with other clowns. Bonnie had a mate at one point. I don't know for sure how long Bonnie was alone. She was dominant right away when these two were placed together.
 
You will have to wait and see, but my guess is the Clyde is no longer a male. I don't know why his body would make the change with a female dominating him in the tank, but I have never seen or heard of an ocellaris pair where the male was bigger than the female. Maybe Bonnie has stopped growing and is smaller than normal breeding female size, so Clyde figured he would fill the void.
 
Could be. I took some pictures and a video. Will load them on computer and see if any shows the comparison well. They are hard to photograph...lol. As far as I know Bonnie is a percula and clyde is an occy/perc mix(I think that's what Sanjay's original pair was).
 
These are about the best I could come up with:

079.jpg


In this first, he isn't a whole lot closer to me. He is just outside the nem.

082.jpg




I threw in some food to get them to come out together and by eachother. Video

http://s248.photobucket.com/albums/gg200/kj23502/40g nem/?action=view&current=075-2.mp4
 
Since Bonnie was paired before as the female, the it is safe to say she is female (they don't go back to male... it is a one-way trip). Since Clyde was with other fish before, it is very possible that Clyde began the transition to being female. Looking at the pictures and video, it really looks like you have two females. The strange part is that they are getting along. I too find it odd that he would transition with a dominant female next to him. One of the things that happens when the female hormones kick in is an increased growth that is suppressed in the males. It will be interesting to see what happens. Keep us informed.
 
Since Bonnie was paired before as the female, the it is safe to say she is female (they don't go back to male... it is a one-way trip). Since Clyde was with other fish before, it is very possible that Clyde began the transition to being female. Looking at the pictures and video, it really looks like you have two females. The strange part is that they are getting along. I too find it odd that he would transition with a dominant female next to him. One of the things that happens when the female hormones kick in is an increased growth that is suppressed in the males. It will be interesting to see what happens. Keep us informed.

I think you might be on to something here and my best guess as to why two (presumably) females are getting along is the difference in coloration. Although they're both clowns, they may not see each other as a threat in the female sense since they're so different in their markings. On the other hand, my female Maroon knows that a yellow tail blue Damselfish should keep its distance, so my theory may be out to lunch.
 
My pair is the same right now, though they definitely aren't finished growing yet. I have a smaller female percula and a slightly larger male that I believe is an ocellaris/percula hybrid, as he exhibits some physical traits of both. The full percula was smaller when I introduced her but much more dominant, beating the hybrid into submission less than an hour after being introduced. She initially had a growth spurt and was a hair larger but has since lagged behind him again. They seem strongly paired and I haven't seen any aggression since the percula established herself as queen.

For what it's worth, I attribute the size disparity to my male being a hybrid. I've always read that ocellaris grow and develop faster than perculas and I know they get slightly larger overall, so I think it will just take her longer to catch up and I don't expect there to be as large a size difference as with a pair of two perculas or two ocellaris. If yours are showing aggression I would be concerned, but I wouldn't worry unless that happens. Sounds like your male hasn't had much opportunity to change anyway, being kept in a group. :)
 
My pair is the same right now, though they definitely aren't finished growing yet. I have a smaller female percula and a slightly larger male that I believe is an ocellaris/percula hybrid, as he exhibits some physical traits of both. The full percula was smaller when I introduced her but much more dominant, beating the hybrid into submission less than an hour after being introduced. She initially had a growth spurt and was a hair larger but has since lagged behind him again. They seem strongly paired and I haven't seen any aggression since the percula established herself as queen.
........................


How do you know you have a male and a female? Have you had any eggs yet? Just because they are getting along doesn't mean they are a "pair".
 
Yes this is rather interesting. I will definitely try to post if anything happens or changes with them :)

Thanks for the input guys/gals
 
Back
Top