Endlers - Changing Sex ?

[fluvial]

I bought a group of Endlers on E-Bay a few weeks ago to set up a breeding community.
When I got them there were 2 x males and about 12/13 females.
About a week ago the large male died leaving just the smaller subordinate male
with the females.

However I have now noticed that one of the mature females is coming out in male colours
including an elongation of the tail into its charactaristic crescent shape.
It really does look as though she is changing sex to replace the dominant male that died.

OR - "She" always was a "He" but deliberately kept her true colours hidden to avoid a confrontation

Any ideas ???

 

[Spurry]

i had some swordtails i they did the same lol.... normal i think

 

[fishyfeet]

in guppies and endlers (they were wild guppies but have now become a breed in their own right)thats why they will interbreed, you get late developers, i think its done by hormones, di

 

[fish48]

they don’t really change sex There lat developing males

 

[helterskelter]

These late developers are always males, while they look female, their not. It's just how young livebearers look.

Some fish esp in swordtail's can take up to a year to fully mature and develop the secondary sexual chartists.

 

[fluvial]

Yeah I think that is right - late developers.
I've now noticed a second one just starting to also get the male
colouration.
That is good news for me 'cos it evens up the M/F balance abit and
provides a better gene pool