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| All western blue groper begin life as females and some, but
 not all, change sex to males later in life. Biologists call this
 type of change ‘protogynous hermaphroditism’, which is
 very common for members of the wrasse family.
 On average, female western blue groper take 15 to 20
 years to reach sexual maturity, when they are around
 650 mm in length.
 Sex change in western blue groper occurs at a length of
 about 820 mm and at an age of between 30 and 35 years.
 This change in sex is closely associated with a change in
 the groper’s colour from green to blue.
 Western blue groper prefer to live in small groups or ‘harems’,
 consisting of one male, one or two females and several
 juveniles. The male fish is always the largest one in the group.
 If the male is removed from the group (say, by fishing,
 predation or old age), then the group’s dominant female
 takes the former’s place – by changing sex and colour.
 Within a couple of hours of the disappearance of the male,
 the dominant female will start behaving in a masculine
 manner. All western blue groper begin life as females and some, but
 not all, change sex to males later in life. Biologists call this
 type of change ‘protogynous hermaphroditism’, which is
 very common for members of the wrasse family.
 On average, female western blue groper take 15 to 20
 years to reach sexual maturity, when they are around
 650 mm in length.
 Sex change in western blue groper occurs at a length of
 about 820 mm and at an age of between 30 and 35 years.
 This change in sex is closely associated with a change in
 the groper’s colour from green to blue.
 Western blue groper prefer to live in small groups or ‘harems’,
 consisting of one male, one or two females and several
 juveniles. The male fish is always the largest one in the group.
 If the male is removed from the group (say, by fishing,
 predation or old age), then the group’s dominant female
 takes the former’s place – by changing sex and colour.
 Within a couple of hours of the disappearance of the male,
 the dominant female will start behaving in a masculine
 manner. A couple of days later, the female’s colouration will
 change to that of the male and within about 14 days her
 sex will have changed to male. As a result of this change,
 the other females will have moved up one position in the
 social order of the harem, with a vacant position left at the
 bottom for a new female member.
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