Is this anthia male or female

[jjoos99]

I am adding a new male and 3 females tomorrow and currently have this fish in my tank. It has been in the tank for several months without a male. Can anyone tell me from the pic if they think it is a male or female? If it is a male I will need to rehome him before adding the new fish.
thanks
Jeff
<a href="http://s248.photobucket.com/user/jjoos99/media/20151027_1640311.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg169/jjoos99/20151027_1640311.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20151027_1640311.jpg"/></a>

 

[Frankief]

Female

 

[jjoos99]

can they go months without making any sex change? I have her in my qt tank now and I guess I can add the new arrivals and see how it goes.
thanks
Jeff

 

[nuxx]

Looks female.

 

[ca1ore]

Female lyretail. Clearly they can go months without changing

 

[eatbreakfast]

It is a female that has begun it's transition to a male, it is beginning to develop the dorsal pennant.

What size tank? It may or may not work. Sometimes transitional anthias can be every bit as aggressive as a full fledged male, but in a large enough tank can still work.

 

[jjoos99]

Y hey will be housed in a 75 gallon for qt then into my display which is a 180. I will be picking up the new fish today.
Thanks
Jeff

 

[SDguy]

I've always preferred adding smaller females to established specimens, be they male or female. Just safer, easier IME.

 

[nuxx]

I've always preferred adding smaller females to established specimens, be they male or female. Just safer, easier IME.

Until they all turn male :lolspin:

Our 5 Huchtii Anthias females are now 4 males and 1 female

But hey the males are a lot prettier!

 

[SDguy]

Until they all turn male :lolspin:

Our 5 Huchtii Anthias females are now 4 males and 1 female

But hey the males are a lot prettier!

I was mostly thinking of lyretails when I wrote that

All bets are off with species like Bartlett

 

[jjoos99]

I added the 4 new lyletails today. They are all doing real well. The existing fish in the picture displayed its fins for awhile at first but no fighting. The new females are more red in color then the existing female. When a female actually changes will they develop the strong red coloration of the males? I had a female change years ago but other then the finage you couldnt see any difference in color then the females?
thanks
Jeff

 

[ca1ore]

I added the 4 new lyletails today. They are all doing real well. The existing fish in the picture displayed its fins for awhile at first but no fighting. The new females are more red in color then the existing female. When a female actually changes will they develop the strong red coloration of the males? I had a female change years ago but other then the finage you couldnt see any difference in color then the females?
thanks
Jeff

Female lyretails are orange, males are red. Never seen a male that stayed orange (at least not in my tank), even when a sub-male. Not convinced that your established female is transitioning either

 

[jjoos99]

Female lyretails are orange, males are red. Never seen a male that stayed orange (at least not in my tank), even when a sub-male. Not convinced that your established female is transitioning either

Years ago my wife bought me a red female as a gift and I bought him 3 females. after awhile the male died and one of the females became the dominant fish and grew larger then the others but it never did turn colors. Could it have remained a female for years without changing? So are all anthias fry hatched as females and turn males as needed or are some actually hatched as males?
thanks
Jeff

 

[ca1ore]

I don't know about the fry question, maybe somebody else does. All I can say is that I have never seen a red lyretail female, nor an orange transitioned male. Doesn't mean it is not possible, of course, but it also may have been a different species.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Anthias are born neuter, soon after they settle they turn into females, based on social interactions dominant females transition into males.

The transition from female to male occurs internally before there are external cues. Among the first external signs of transition is the extension of the second dorsal ray. This beginning to grow is a sign that transition has already begun. While not nearly as long as it will eventually become the second dorsal ray of the OP's pictured anthias has already begun to grow.

Final body coloration is the final step. Squamipinnis with the full dorsal pennant and lyre tail yet still orange rather than red are quite common. The fish is male, but just hasn't fully completed it's transition.

 

[jjoos99]

I guess I will be finding out how well one of the dominant females will transition. I found the male dead yesterday. He never has eaten well since I received him. Only lasted a week. I have noticed that one of the females that I received with the same order has the start of the extended fin. I am guessing that fish or the original fish I posted the pic of will change over to the male. For some reason I have bought 2 males over the years and both have died, just wondering if males dont adapt well to tank life.
Jeff

 

[jjoos99]

Anthias are born neuter, soon after they settle they turn into females, based on social interactions dominant females transition into males.

The transition from female to male occurs internally before there are external cues. Among the first external signs of transition is the extension of the second dorsal ray. This beginning to grow is a sign that transition has already begun. While not nearly as long as it will eventually become the second dorsal ray of the OP's pictured anthias has already begun to grow.

Final body coloration is the final step. Squamipinnis with the full dorsal pennant and lyre tail yet still orange rather than red are quite common. The fish is male, but just hasn't fully completed it's transition.

I will be disappointed if the changing female would not change color. The coloration of the male is one reason why I bought the group of fish.
Jeff

 

[shred5]

I've always preferred adding smaller females to established specimens, be they male or female. Just safer, easier IME.

Agreed.. I just bought a very small male not fully changed but I wanted a small one. I was just going to add the male and small would be less aggressive. I have a bunch of ignitus right now too. My girlfriend thought it would be better if we got a female to add at the same time. The male was turning male because he was by himself. So went to another store that had some beautiful small females with a nice red male. I bought a female thinking she was smaller but she actually turned out to be the same size as the male. They are battling hard and the female is wining. With lyretails you have to make sure their is a difference in sizes or it is a battle. For some reason with Lyretails it is a massive battle to be male. Bartlett's Anthias too..


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The one above looks to me like it is starting to change. Lyretails change fast.

Males are not always red, it depends on where they come from it seems. Females are always orange but have slight differences from where they come too..

I will be disappointed if the changing female would not change color. The coloration of the male is one reason why I bought the group of fish.
Jeff

If you like the color of the male you could have just bought one.

 

[jjoos99]

I did buy a male. I posted that the male just died. I will either have to buy another male or just wait it out and see if the dominant female turns male and turn color. I got mine from a friend that has a wholesale account so I tacked onto his last order. You never know what size of fish that you will get ordering that way.
Jeff

 

[shred5]

I did buy a male. I posted that the male just died. I will either have to buy another male or just wait it out and see if the dominant female turns male and turn color. I got mine from a friend that has a wholesale account so I tacked onto his last order. You never know what size of fish that you will get ordering that way.
Jeff

I meant just one lyretail... This way you end up with a male eventually anyway. Anyway hope it works out.
I wanted to have some ignitus and a male lyretail and a male Bartlett's since the males are better looking anyway to have a mix of anthias.
My male lyretail shoals with my ignitus.. Female hangs out on her own. It is weird how other anthias can change the normal habits of another fish.

Ignitus are cool they protect their own. when I put the smaller ignitus in the male swung into protect him from my tang. They all protected the female lyretail when she was introduced.