Macropharyngodon meleagris, Meleagris Leopard

OrionN

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Here are a few pictures of my Meleagris Leopard. I find that this species is really beautiful, if more common than other leopards. Leopards are sensitive fish initially. Live food, or a lot of pods is a must to acclimated new one successfully. Once established, they are trouble free and can compete with the fastest of the wrasses for food. I had my oldest Meleagris for almost 1 years. I think he seem to be in the initial phase as I search for information, but have been like this for months. Obvious different than my smaller one. The smaller one is about 2 inches and the larger is about 3 inches. I show pictures of the same side of the larger one, which show the changing of the spots, only a little so far. I just measure the wrasse and adjust the estimate size up a little.

Larger one on 6/24/2019
MeleagrisLeopard2019062402.jpg

MeleagrisLeopard2019060901.jpg


Larger one on 10/22/2019
MeleagrisLeopard2019102201.jpg


Both on 4/5/2020
MeleagrisLeopard2020040501B.jpg


Smaller one on 4/5/2020
MeleagrisLeopard2020040503S.jpg
 
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Pretty. Jumpers, right?

I found a trio at my LFS held in their own tank. Really healthy pair that I was tempted to get. Tank just ended its 2nd year of its upgrade and I don't think it was ready yet to support a trio. While there was no competing fish eating similar food I knew I was going to be trying a Copperband which may. So, I held off.

That and I have a open top although it is 30" tall. Really like them but may end up with a possum wrasse instead or a six line down the road. Really pretty though and as always you do an AMAZING job!
 
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Pretty. Jumpers, right?

I found a trio at my LFS held in their own tank. Really healthy pair that I was tempted to get. Tank just ended its 2nd year of its upgrade and I don't think it was ready yet to support a trio. While there was no competing fish eating similar food I knew I was going to be trying a Copperband which may. So, I held off.

....
All wrasses are...
My experience and opinion here is different than that of @evolved regarding likelyhood of jumping in Meleagris Leopards (and likely all Leopards in general).
Leopard Wrasses are not jumpers IME. I had a trio of Meleagris Leopard for several years in my 320 gal DT with open top and did not loose them to jumping. This is a glass tank with no European bracing. The water level only about 1.5 inches lower than the side. I lost this harem when my tank crash during hurricane Harvey.
I think sand living wrasse will dive to the sand in case of perceive danger thus do not jump out. On the other hand, my Meleagris were never sexually matured so they did not spawn in my tank. I am not sure what their sexual behavior is like. Some fast fish may ended up jumped out of the tank in breeding ritual if they dart fast up to the surface when they spawn.

I have open top tanks for 30+ years, and did not loose fish to jumping often, but never really keep a lot of wrasses. The last 3 years I have tight lid and overflow cover becasue I keep fairy and flasher wrasses. I do not recommend tank without lid, but if push come to shove and I have open top tank, I would not hesitant to keep Leopard Wrasse in open top tanks.
 

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Beautiful fish and pictures! Thanks for sharing! I hope to have a tank with fish like this some day! I have a flasher and fairy wrasse currently and the fairy is quite the bully to the flasher.
 
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Beautiful fish and pictures! Thanks for sharing! I hope to have a tank with fish like this some day! I have a flasher and fairy wrasse currently and the fairy is quite the bully to the flasher.
Really depends on the species. Some Flasher, like Diamond Tail Flasher and Red Sea Eightline Flasher, can be aggressive while some Fairy wrasse, like Pin Tail Fairy, can be quite mild.
 

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It’s a carpenters flasher and ruby head fairy. I didn’t think these two would have an issue together but I’ve been proven wrong. These two were in the tank at the LFS together along with 15 other wrasses and Anthias. The ruby head was the only fairy though. Still on the look out for an eight line flasher :)
 
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My experience and opinion here is different than that of @evolved regarding likelyhood of jumping in Meleagris Leopards (and likely all Leopards in general).
Leopard Wrasses are not jumpers IME. I had a trio of Meleagris Leopard for several years in my 320 gal DT with open top and did not loose them to jumping. This is a glass tank with no European bracing. The water level only about 1.5 inches lower than the side. I lost this harem when my tank crash during hurricane Harvey.
I think sand living wrasse will dive to the sand in case of perceive danger thus do not jump out. On the other hand, my Meleagris were never sexually matured so they did not spawn in my tank. I am not sure what their sexual behavior is like. Some fast fish may ended up jumped out of the tank in breeding ritual if they dart fast up to the surface when they spawn.

I have open top tanks for 30+ years, and did not loose fish to jumping often, but never really keep a lot of wrasses. The last 3 years I have tight lid and overflow cover becasue I keep fairy and flasher wrasses. I do not recommend tank without lid, but if push come to shove and I have open top tank, I would not hesitant to keep Leopard Wrasse in open top tanks.

Thank you for the insight. The comment about diving towards the sand vs the surface makes sense when you think of it. We shall see. I'm about a year away before I add anything fish related. Up next is a trio of BIOTA Milletseed Butterflyfish Captive Bred or Royal Gramma's. Not sure.

But I would still like to try one of these leopards. Keep up the amazing job!
 

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My experience and opinion here is different than that of @evolved regarding likelyhood of jumping in Meleagris Leopards (and likely all Leopards in general).
Leopard Wrasses are not jumpers IME. I had a trio of Meleagris Leopard for several years in my 320 gal DT with open top and did not loose them to jumping. This is a glass tank with no European bracing. The water level only about 1.5 inches lower than the side. I lost this harem when my tank crash during hurricane Harvey.
I think sand living wrasse will dive to the sand in case of perceive danger thus do not jump out. On the other hand, my Meleagris were never sexually matured so they did not spawn in my tank. I am not sure what their sexual behavior is like. Some fast fish may ended up jumped out of the tank in breeding ritual if they dart fast up to the surface when they spawn.

I have open top tanks for 30+ years, and did not loose fish to jumping often, but never really keep a lot of wrasses. The last 3 years I have tight lid and overflow cover becasue I keep fairy and flasher wrasses. I do not recommend tank without lid, but if push come to shove and I have open top tank, I would not hesitant to keep Leopard Wrasse in open top tanks.
I definitely agree that the frequency of jumping is less in Macropharyngodon compared to some of the other wrasse genera. However I still wouldn't advocate keeping them in an open top tank. I simply do not see the point of expending some extra effort getting a somewhat challenging genus to thrive in a tank, only for them to needlessly end up on the floor.
 
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More picture detail the small changes over the last week. I got him as a small juvenile about 12/2018. She was about 1.5 inches at the time. He is now about 3.5 inches. So these changes occurred in 20 or so months in my tank.
1/27/2019
MeleagrisLeopard2019012701.jpg


7/18/2020
MeleagrisLeopard2020071804Male.jpg


7/25/2020. More define facial pattern and the blue spots are lining up. Brighter blue and darker orange
MeleagrisLeopard2020072503Male.jpg


This is not a good picture but it does show how fat the wrasse is. It also show the iridescent gold color spots on his back.
MeleagrisLeopard2020072508Male.jpg
 
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About color change in wrasses, the color change so fast, pattern shifting so fast, I wonder how they do it. It ot to be the pigments UNDER the scales, not the sale itself. I cannot image that the scales are shifting position, rather it is the pigment in the soft tissue under the scales that are changing in color. This make a lot more sense. That is why they can shift color so fast depends on their mood.
 
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Pictures of my Meleagris Leopards this PM
Female
MeleagrisLeopard2020090501Female.jpg


Male, normal coloration
MeleagrisLeopard2020090504Male.jpg


Nuptial coloration. The darker red-ish base color turn to bright blue. He become a much brighter color fish
MeleagrisLeopard2020090505Male.jpg

MeleagrisLeopard2020090506MaleNuptial.jpg


He began to swim vertical up and down, follow the female. It was not easy to take these pictures since he was moving fast.
MeleagrisLeopard2020090507Male.jpg

MeleagrisLeopard2020090508MaleNuptial.jpg
 

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Thanks for documenting this. Your passion for the hobby is clear to see. Your photographs of your 8-line flasher inspired me to get one of my own!
 

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