The big male seems to be behaving a little better since his capture (and release). He bullies the small male a bit less, but the small male still hasn't begun to revert to female form yet. The big male definitely is growing out a lyre tail though.
His colors are more saturated now, but not by a whole lot. I think it has more to do with my photographic technique. The biggest difference are his fins are now longer. Hiroyuki was right .... the longer fins make him look more slender and elegant.
I think the female might be carrying eggs 8O My brother and I caught enough wild fish in our lives to recognize what a bearing female fish looks like, and she definitely looks like she's carrying a load Either that, or she has some parasites. In any case, here's a photo of her many hours after feeding, so what you see in her growing stomach area is not food. She's also hounding the big male a lot these days, flaring her fins at him, following him around the tank, and "pecking" (almost like kissing) him on right behind the eyes when he stays stays relatively still. Very interesting behavior. The male has yet to do his courtship displays though.
This species is one of my favorites. It is a 150mm male (same individual) from Cebu, the Philippines. While it is exciting all the fins become more yellowish, and the body turn reddish to deep pink. Note the pelvic fins seen in both photos.
My small male died today For the past two weeks, it lost all its weight (down to skin and bones). It had difficulty eating, but it still tried to eat like a pig. However, no matter how much it ate, it got skinnier each day. It finally lost energy to swim yesterday, and died this morning.
sorry to hear about that it is always a pitty to lose any fish and on that nice really sucks...i lost a fairy the same way once not sure what it was but i hate to see it happen