Mouthbrooding in Hemichromis sp. Moanda??

[retro_gk]

Hi,
A friend who had a spawn from this species recently reports that once the fry had dwindled down to less than 10, the parents would take the survivors up in their mouth if danger threatened. I have not observed this in any of the red Hemichromis species I've kept. Anyone else observe this?

It'll be interesting to see if the Moanda do this with future spawns.

 

[tjudy]

I have not heard of that before. I have heard two accounts of mouthbrooding... rather more of a buccal cavity brood protection... wth Pelvicachromis signatus. Both accounts from aquarists I know well enough not to doubt them.

 

[retro_gk]

Ted, I remember you mentioning the P. signatus at the ACA. Fascinating.

 

[k98]

stellifer can also do that,if the mother feel a danger

http://www.cichlidsforum.com/-hemic...-clair-photos-vt6007.html?highlight=stellifer

 

[retro_gk]

Interesting. I've had stellifer before and never observed such behavior. I wonder if it is something only a few individuals do? This would make sense if we assumed the fish were evolving into mouthbrooders.

 

[tjudy]

I suspect that these are cases of a fast reaction to an immediate and unexpected threat. Both cases of the P. signatus doing it occurred when the male was startled.

 

[Randall]

Mouthbrooding Hemichromis?

Hello guys,

Hemichromis species are monogamous, open-substrate spawners. As Ted suggests, the mouthbrooding behavior observed in this thread is not really mouthbrooding, per se, but rather " buccal cavity brood protection" or, as Anton Lamboj once put it, the behavior "serves in fry protection."

Thanks!

Randall Kohn