Behavior
P
Protogyny
/ /prəˈtɒdʒɪni/ /
Etymology:
From Greek protos (first) + gyne (female)
Quick Definition
Sequential hermaphroditism in which the organism begins life as a female and later changes to male.
📖 Full Definition
Protogyny is the most common form of sequential hermaphroditism in fish. Individuals begin life as functional females, then transition to male. This makes adaptive sense in polygynous (harem) mating systems where a large, dominant male can control a group of females: it is more profitable to be female when small and switch to male at large size. Classic protogynous families include Labridae (wrasses), Scaridae (parrotfishes), Serranidae (groupers), and Sparidae (some sea breams).
💡 Examples & Context
All large supermale parrotfish (Scarus spp.) started life as females. After sex change they adopt bright terminal-phase colouration.