Anthias question
- Thread starter kegogut
- Start date
eatbreakfast
New member
It is possible, but more probable that a dominant male will harass less dominant males to death.
kegogut
Active member
Thats what I'm afraid of.
kegogut
Active member
Have you had multiple males and if so how'd they do? The reason Im asking is my LFS has a couple male squareback anthias my wife wants to get. I have a 220 DT but dont want them to fight either way.
eatbreakfast
New member
I have seen it occur once with pink square anthias, a group of females were added to a tank with an established, but young male. The dominant female took over the middle of the tank and began behaving as a male. The male would hide most of the time, but still come out for food, but after feeding go back to hiding. After a few weeks the male's color was very faded and the blotch almost nonexistent. He continued to get more yellow in color, though not as yellow as females. I dont know if he became a functional female or not, but his coloring certainly reflected a reverse transition.
That experience is by no means a "normal", but has occurred. Often in species that transition from female to male, one can be male without being a terminal male. When first becoming a functional male it still transitory until it is terminal and will not revert back.
I also have kept most of the anthias species regularly available in the US, with what I would qualify as success.
Stevenliu9
New member
I have a group of 5 Bartlett with 1 male and 1 changing male for over 2 months now. I saw Divers Dens have a trio female for sell so I bought it- turns out one of the three was a full blown male! I added them to my 180 and am interested to see what happens. It's been about a month now the entire group of 8 actually just hang out together with 1 dominant male, that male will "shepherd" the entire group, and the sub-don male will then shepherd the group minus the dominant one, and the changing one did not change any more into female, nor has it revert to female, but is behaving just like a female.
I think it depends upon the species .... and the circumstances. Frankly I'd not put more than a single male of any species newly into a tank. I think you're just asking for trouble. If an existing population ends up with multiple males, that can work OK. I have a quintet of bimacs in my current tank. All five were introduced as females, but now two are males. Of my three bartletts, two became males - though one is clearly dominant. Resplendents often change to males as well. So, if thre change in your tank, so be it, but don't force it. Squares are nice, but require plenty of space. Get a male and a few females; or all females. Let them choose!
ThRoewer
New member
I don't think it is likely for Anthias to switch back from functional male to functional female.
You can never go by color as some smaller males may mimic female colors to divert aggression. The only way to be sure would be a dissection. The next best thing would be if they spawn and a clearly functional male would later start producing eggs.
What also speaks against a male turning back to female is that there is no need for this in their natural environment. There is always an abundance of females and juveniles around.
You can never go by color as some smaller males may mimic female colors to divert aggression. The only way to be sure would be a dissection. The next best thing would be if they spawn and a clearly functional male would later start producing eggs.
What also speaks against a male turning back to female is that there is no need for this in their natural environment. There is always an abundance of females and juveniles around.
eatbreakfast
New member
No, its not likely, but certainly can occur.
It actually has been scientifically studied in squamipinnis since the 1970's in both natural and laboratory environments.
Also even though there always seems to be an abundance of juveniles and females around in their environment, in the wild there is an extreme motivation to revers sex as social, territorial, and resource dynamics can change very rapidly, and in certain instances not being able to revert sexes can lead to a quick death by a rival, a predator or starvation.
