Wild things: Sheephead fish: Sex Change Without Surgery

[Shana A]

Wild things: Sheephead fish: Sex Change Without Surgery
by Carolyn Kraft
Published October 8, 2009

http://www.easyreadernews.com/story.php?StoryID=20035495

It's Friday night at the local saloon and not one person of the opposite sex in sight. Dating can be such a drag. But instead of moping, why not head to the restroom and perform a quick sex change and become the hottest commodity at the bar?

Welcome to the potential benefits of being a California Sheephead fish. Well, it's not exactly a quick phone booth style transformation like Clark Kent to Superman. But Semicossyphus pulcher, the scientific name for the California Sheephead fish, does begin its life as a female and then transforms to male later with the potential to grow up to three feet long.

[sd]

Quite a few fish species do this actually, most notably Clown fish.

All start off as male or gender neutral, the largest becomes female, the second largest in the community becomes the male. The rest wait their turn. If the female dies, the male becomes the female, and the next male or gender neutral becomes the male.