Slippery dick wrasses are protogynous hermaphrodites
This fish is a slippery dick. You read that right. This fish's common name is “slippery dick”. Its scientific name is “Halichoeres bivittatus”, but no one calls it by that name.
In this photo, the slippery dick wrasse is eating a crab. I was watching this fish for a while, then in the blink of an eye, the fish dove into the sand and came up with a flailing crab in its mouth. The crab never had a chance. Then to my fortune the wrasse looked right at me and froze with the crab in its mouth, and I took this shot.
Something wild about slippery dicks, besides their name, is that they are protogynous hermaphrodites. Meaning that these animals are born female, but change their sex to male during some point in their life. If you want to learn more about this fish, think twice before you google it.
Did You Know?
- They are hermaphrodites which means they start out their lives as females and can change their sexes for mating.
- The slippery dick wrasse will 'shadow' other fish to eat any leftover scraps.. This is called following behavior.
- These creatures remove small organisms and dead tissues off of other fish.
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