A little guessing game

[aquaticclarity]

Sorry for the bad pictures but it's hard to hold a camera in one hand and a flshlight in the other! Can anyone (other then Ted) guess what the fish in the cave with a huge plaque of eggs is?

Jeff

 

[tjudy]

Be fair... tell them who 'loosened' them for you....

 

[aquaticclarity]

Just because you were using stool softener in their tank before I got them from you doesn't mean anything :biggrin:

Jeff

 

[afra]

It looks like Hemichromis "Simbala" to me.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Afra,

Sorry for the delay. Yes it's Hemichromis sp. Guinea 2 or Simbala. It seems they are a cave spawning jewel cichlid! I've been working with this fish for several years and gotten no further then courtship, but with in days of getting a cave this new pair spawned. There was a fertiity issue or the like with the first spawn but I'm happy to report the pair spawned again just a few hours ago! Hopefully this round is a little more productive.

Jeff

 

[tjudy]

Jeff's observation that the fish is a cave spawner confirms other observations by a few other people who have gotten this fish to spawn as well (freshwaterfishfan on our forum for one). This is a significant observation since a part of the description of the genus Hemichromis is that they ae all supposed to be open substrate spawners. I mentione this to Paul Loiselle this past weekend at the ACA convention. He confirmed that this is indeed a unique behavior for the genus.

 

[westafrica]

Hi!

Contrary to this open substrate spawner theory, several of the Hemichromis I kept have spawned in caves when they had the choice : H. stellifer, H. aff. guttatus and H. sp. Ambeduco. The stellifer even never spawned on an open substrate. The aff. guttatus did not always spawn in the same place : sometimes it was on an open substrate, sometimes in a cave (but always on a vertical surface).

I don't know if this behavior is led by environmental conditions, by an instinct aiming to protect the eggs, or if it's a transition phase between open substrate spawner and hidden substrate spawner...

However, I'm not really surprised to read that these H. sp. Guinea II have the same behavior... But it's really interesting to know!

 

[tjudy]

All of the Hemichromis species that breed for me will choose a site that is covered, but covered does not necessarily mean 'cave'. The sp. 'Guinea 2' are choosing spawning sites that are completely enclosed except for the opening, which is small enough for the larger of the two fish to squeeze through. The eggs are being laid on the vertical surfaces, an even on the roof. The species i have kept have all spawned on flat or slightly angled surface, usually a pot shard, rock or piece of wood. However, I cannot really speak to whether they will spawn on vertical surfaces or not, because the option is not there, except for the roof over the spawning site (usually a larger pot shard or pile of driftwood). The only species I have kept/bred so far are sp. Moanda, stellifer, lifallili and gutattus.