Anthias experts? Shoal behavior question...

[Angel*Fish]

I read that large wild anthias shoals will be male & female with a dominant male, but that if the dominant male dies, the dominant female will change & take his place [rather than one of the males].

That said -- I wasn't sure if the author had shifted from a discussion of wild anthias to comments re: a small group in an aquarium where there are no males (without giving notice to the reader)

Can anyone clarify?

 

[Amphiprion]

I am not an expert, but AFAIK, there is usually even more than one dominant male in large shoals. I don't remember any numbers, etc., but I do know that each male controls a certain area, usually involving a relative amount of females/juvenile individuals. Any higher densities of males would result in more females, because the male will suppress any individuals from developing male reproductive organs. So basically, you have one male per x amount of territory and x amount of subordinate individuals.

Basically what this means in almost any aquarium--only one male.

Where did you read the above (can you give me a link)? It may very well be correct.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Here's the link... he does start a new paragraph but it's not clear to me
Link to Scott Michael's anthias article

 

[Amphiprion]

Ah, ok. Apparently there is a variation to what I had said. There are enough individuals and space that some individuals can become male. Because they are at the bottom of the group, they are kept in check less, but obviously enough to keep them from becoming dominant (especially when there is aggression from bolder females and dominant males). By far, the majority of the population will be composed of females and juveniles, though. At any rate, I would trust Scott Micheal, especially in this case