melanochromis auratus Sex Change???

[johnd651]

So i am not sure what happened... if anyone has any ideas.

i got three melanochromis auratus... one male... two female (white bellies). and when i put them in the tank one of the females turned from white to a gray-ish black and went on a killing spree against the true male (all black with nice stripe). I am not sure what happened, but when i caught the culprit fish and put him in the floating breeder its colors changed from gray to white as snow with stripe.... any ideas???

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

Females have the ability to change to male coloration , sometimes that is the case of an all-female tank or a tank with other female auratus where the most dominant assumes the male role. Males also have the ability to change coloration but don't do it often I heard. The only way for sure which ones you have are male and female are to vent them because of this ability. Good luck, these are very aggressive mbuna. I just picked one up the other day, I believe its a female but it might be too young to tell. So far no aggression from mine but its still young, lol

 

[Inglorious]

^ This, I have 6 females in my tank and within months of adding them three started changing coloration to look like males and have stayed that way for well over a year

 

[COG Commando]

I have a known female (she's held eggs) M. auratus who changed to a dull black almost a year ago and hasn't changed back. She's the only M. auratus in the tank and controls the left half of my 150 but she isn't really even THAT aggressive to the other fish who enter into her territory. It's not uncommon for females in a role of dominance to adopt a male coloration to show their status.