Sex change in Chrysiptera parasema.

[Luis A M]

I had a pair of YTD,C.parasema breeding since several years.Then the male died and the female was kept alone for some time.After that it was mated to a smaller hybrid Chrysiptera (parasema x hemicyanea).It was soon evident that the former female was the dominant member of the pair and was recently found caring for a nest with fertile eggs.
Sex change happens in pomacentrids;male to female in clowns and female to male in some damsels like the haremic Dascyllus spp.
Having worked with Chrysiptera damsels for many years,I hadn´t seen any sex change and frankly didn´t expect them to do that. See: viewtopic.php?f=172&t=1140
Of course the presence of a male prevented them to undergo such sex change.
So here it is reported an actual sex change in YTD.
It would be interesting to see if other species in the Genus are also sex changers,particularly by the sexual dimorphic "devils" C.taupou and C.cyanea,where sex change could be easily detected without having to wait for successful reproduction of the fish involved.
A group of blue devil females or one female kept alone should after some time show in one of them the development of male colour

[Amie]

Luis, that's fantastic news! It makes pairing that much easier.

[Amie]

Luis, that's fantastic news! It makes pairing that much easier.

[Amie]

Luis, that's fantastic news! It makes pairing that much easier.

[Amie]

Luis, that's fantastic news! It makes pairing that much easier.

[Amie]

Luis, that's fantastic news! It makes pairing that much easier.

[Luis A M]

Luis, that's fantastic news! It makes pairing that much easier.

Indeed.Like other protogynous sequential hermaphrodites,you can mate a large and a small one.Now we know that the large one is or will become a male,while the smaller will remain a female.You still need plenty of cover and some luck since they are so aggressive