Serial female sex changes after simultaneous removal of males from social groups of a coral reef fish.

The simultaneous removal of three to nine males from large social groups of Anthias squamipinnis led to close to a one-to-one replacement of the removed males by sex-reversing females. The females changed sex serially within each group with a mean interval between successive onset times of 1.9 days. The timing of sex change is thus not independent for each fish but is influenced by the events surrounding other sex reversals within the group.