Anthias

Going back onto our tropical fish now, because there are a few to get through, up next is this little fella...

I'm sorry, I mean lady. This is a female anthias. And below is the male. 

This is the sort of picture that would make fish enthusiasts or even just someone looking for a nice fish picture weep. It also makes me question my decision to take photos of the animals with my phone and not ask for a hot shot photographer. But nah, it's charming isn't it? I like to think so. Enough about my life. Let's talk about the fish.

I've been introduced to these fish as "anthias" and I know them by their binomial name Pseudanthias squamipinnis, other people know these fish as "Sea Goldie". But enough about their life. Let's talk about the fish.

This species shows sexual dimorphism, that means you can look at these fish and tell which ones a male anthias and which is a female anthias. There are a lot of marine animals where just having a quick look won't do, some you have to chop open to see, but these guys have made it easier for us.

The females are orange and a little smaller, they have a neon-punk style violet streak below their eye. My photo will never do it justice, a photo from wikipedia will though:

The males are a bit bigger, about one and a half times as big as the females, this is my casual observation- it's not science. The males are a wicked fuchsia colour, and have an elongated ray on their dorsal fin. You can sort of make it out in my photo. Though I know it's there so I can see it. I will find you a better one. Wikipedia once again.

Males also have fancy tail fins. It's hard to explain, but they're  more pointy and elegant than the females.

My favourite thing about these fish are that they are sequential hermaphrodites. This is why animals and nature are just mind blowingly-amazingly-supercalifragiciously awesome! Anthias are protogynous hermaphrodites, this means all anthias are born female but some have the ability to change their sex into male. Lots of fish live in harems (anime nerds may be familiar with a harem), a harem is a group consisting of many females to one male. You'll have about 5-10 female anthias all sharing the one male anthias. If that male dies, and they're male-less, one of the females in the group will change their sex and become the male to the harem, and help produce more babies. There are other types of sequential hermaphrodites, and there is a very popular fish that I'm not going to give away just yet... but when I talk about them, you will find out. *wink*

Not the information you were looking for? Try FishBase.org