Watanabei not turning male?

MeanGreenStompa · Jan 24, 2024

After a year, neither of my two Watanabei Angels in my 180g are turning male? One is a good deal larger than the other and dominates it, but I wonder if the tangs are suppressing the change as my Purple and Achilles are the two dominant fish in the tank. This would be odd as I see neither of those fish pay any attention to the Angels at all. I do know they were chased by my Regal tang for about the first 6 months until I removed that fish.

Are they 'locked in' as female now? I've read discussion on them locking into a gender once male (terminal?) but I thought any female can switch no matter the size of the fish.

albano · Jan 24, 2024

MeanGreenStompa said:
Are they 'locked in' as female now? I've read discussion on them locking into a gender once male (terminal?) but I thought any female can switch no matter the size of the fish.

I’ve had a full male Bellus, revert back to female, (and its color pattern was different than its original female pattern), when a larger male Lamarck was introduced.

JM302 · Jan 24, 2024

MeanGreenStompa said:
After a year, neither of my two Watanabei Angels in my 180g are turning male? One is a good deal larger than the other and dominates it, but I wonder if the tangs are suppressing the change as my Purple and Achilles are the two dominant fish in the tank. This would be odd as I see neither of those fish pay any attention to the Angels at all. I do know they were chased by my Regal tang for about the first 6 months until I removed that fish.

Are they 'locked in' as female now? I've read discussion on them locking into a gender once male (terminal?) but I thought any female can switch no matter the size of the fish.

I'm in the same boat. I have two Watanabei, they are not the dominant fish in the tank but are largely left alone. One of the Watanabei is larger and more aggressive than the other but both fish have remained 'female'. It's been a year.

I've heard some folks say that having 3 increases the chances of a male. I've also heard people say it's not uncommon for them to not change and I've also heard that if you for example had 2 and the female dies, the male could revert. I have not heard about them being locked - so that's interesting. I have no personal experience with any of these claims outside of what I've observed with my two.

I still have hope that one will change. Either way they are some of my favorite fish in the tank.