The blueheaded wrasse. (Credit: Leonardo Gonzalez/shutterstock)

Sex transitions are commonplace for several species of fish, and that’s consistently puzzling for scientists. How these changes occur on a genetic level is still not fully understood, but a new study published in the journal Science offers some insights.

A team of researchers say they’ve found that social stressors may play a role in triggering a cascade of hormonal changes in the bluehead wrasse, a small, coral-loving fish