anthias changing sex

[jjoos99]

Just wondering about female anthias changing into males. I have a female that changed sexes but still has not changed color. He has gotten all the fin extensions of the male but not the color. Does it take quite a bit of time to get the color change or will the fish possibly never change the color? It has been a good 6 months or more.
thanks
Jeff

 

[AquaticFins]

Most likely, the colour/sex change is as complete as it's going to get at this point. In my experience, the change averages 5-14 days...not months. A colour change after six months is still certainly possible, but at this point, it will probably be linked to a change in the dynamics of the group.

IE, the supermale dies, new females are introduced, territory shift, another female goes male and instigates a dominance fight.

Also, if this anthias is the only one of its species in the aquarium, they generally will become male, but retain the female/subdominate colour pattern. He needs females to hold the supermale colour pattern.

Hope that helps.

David

 

[davocean]

You know, I have a weird deal as well, one obvious male w/ 4 females.
One female has a slight spike dorsal and is different from the other females in both looks and behavior, yet still original bright orange color.
I noticed the other day they were trippin on their reflection, and both the male, and different female were being a little aggro to the reflections, and I could tell the male did not like the female being aggro, and would chase her away, kinda like, "hey, that's my job".
I'm sure that if my male was out of the picture she would be next in line.