gender confused

[demosthenes]

here's the story:

i had a trio of A. Borellii in a 37. the male spawned with both females more than once but the wigglers always disappeared within a day or two, presumably because of predators in the tank. so, i moved the male and one female to my twenty with more peaceful fish hoping to successfully raise some fry. apparently they didn't like the twenty; no spawning activity for months. so i pulled them and put them back in the 37 where they were happiest.

now the funny part:

the female who was left behind had grown accustomed to being boss. when i put the other two back in with her, she put on MALE colors and flirts with both male and female fish. it's been about two weeks and she is still metallic blue. at first i had a panic and thought maybe she had been male all along or had somehow regenerated into the opposite sex, but she is definitely still female judging from her size and shape.

so: my fish is gender confused. she forgot how to be a girl.

lol

[DCguy]

Arte you sure that this fish had previously laid eggs? Although I have not seen it as much with borellii as with many other Apistos, it is very common for there to be "sleeper males" that look and act just like females . This is actually quite common with many tank raised Apistos as they are often raised in tight quarters where the slower maturing individuals would be seriously harassed by the more mature males. In this case, a number of males will actually become female in all appearance and behavior characteristics but remain male fish.

I have been amazed a number of times when a fish that I knew was female turned into a male after being left alone. In my experience, some of these sleeper males will never develop the size and colors of typical males, however, in other cases they turn into spectacular adults.

If your fish is a sleeper, it will be interesting to watch the dynamics in the tank and see how it all works out.

DC

[demosthenes]

previously both females had established a little territory for themselves and i saw them both with fry. they squatted in opposite ends of the tank, so i was almost 100% sure they were actually different fish, not just one moving around on me. both females were bright yellow guarding clutches within a day or two of each other.

physically this confused fish looks nothing like a male. it's size and finnage are all female. only the colors are questionable.

[Northernguy]

Pics would really help.

[DCguy]

It sounds like you have one of those wonderful unexplainable fish happenings that make keeping dwarf cichlids so interesting. It will be interesting to see how things go from here.

DC

[Red]

Can i see pics of your a.Borellii? I have been trying to figure out what the heck i got sold. I was sold a fish under that name, but i don't think it is.. hmm interesting about the female.

[DCguy]

Look here for A. borellii info and photos [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[demosthenes]

here are some pictures for comparison. the flash makes them all look a bit more blue than they normally do. the first picture is the male, the second the offending female, and the third the normal female.