Fish playing dress up…

[Magnum Man]

I’ve really only seen this in Cichlids, on my breeding Tilapia, and now on my “3 some” Apisto’s… the seller sold the Apisto’s in 3’s… mine have been in a mixed Cichlid tank, for several months, without killing each other… one female has its normal look, and the other has begun to mimic Male coloration… I think the male knows the one is a female, and maybe the deceptive coloration helps the other female, to tolerate it… is this a Cichlid trait, or do other fish do it as well???

 

[Colin_T]

A lot of young male cichlids and subordinate males look like females so they don't get attacked by bigger males. If you have a fish that looks like a pale or washed out male, it's probably pretending to be female so the other male doesn't bash it.