What would it take to change sexes? In humans, it involves
complicated surgeries and rigorous hormonal therapies, not to
mention hefty social and psychological ramifications. But in the
Eastern Pacific Ocean, tiny orange-and-blue fish are naturally
transitioning from female to male, and male to female, all the
time. Bluebanded goby fish, about 2 to 2.5 inches long, are able
to change their sex when it suits their position in social
hierarchies. Matthew Grober, associate professor of biology at
Georgia State University, has received funding from the National
Science Foundation to better understand what mechanisms cause
some of these fish to change sexes. In his lab, fluorescent
lights accentuate dozens of aquariums lined with grayish-green
algae where his bluebanded gobies thrive. "We can detect within
minutes, via changes in behavior, when a fish begins the
transition, and it generally takes one to two weeks to complete
the transition from female to male," Grober explained. One
indicator of typically male beh