Abstract
Oral incubation of young or ‘mouthbrooding’ reduces the selective advantages of care by two parents and thus biparental care is rare among ‘mouthbrooding’ fish. We surveyed the breeding biology of Eretmodus cyanostictus, a biparental mouthbrooder from Lake Tanganyika, to understand what factors maintain biparental care. We found larger males than females, a male-biased sex ration and indications that spawning is synchronized around the full moon. These preliminary findings suggest that the benefits of desertion for males are low; males may maximize their reproductive success by helping raise young while females regain reproductive condition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References cited
Balshine-Earn, S. 1995a. The evolution of parental care in cichlid fishes. Ph.D Thesis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge. 169 pp.
Balshine-Earn, S. 1995b. The costs of parental care in Galilee St. Peter's fish. Anim. Behav. 50: 1-7.
Barlow G.W. 1974. Contrasts in social behaviour between Central American cichlid fishes and coral reef surgeon fishes. Amer, Zool. 14; 9-34.
Barlow, G.W. 1981 Patterns of parental investment, dispersal and size among coral reef fishes. Env. Biol. Fish. 6: 65-85.
Barlow, G.W. 1984. Patterns of monogamy among teleost fishes. Arch. Fisch Wiss. 35 (Beih. 1): 75-123.
Barlow, G.W. 1991. Mating systems among cichlid fishes. pp. 173-190. In: M.H.A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes: Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution, Chapman and Hall, London.
Blumer, L.S. 1979. Male parental care in bony fishes. Q. Rev. Biol. 54: 149-161.
Blumer, L.S. 1985. The significance of biparental care in the brown bullhead, Ictaurus nebulosus Env. Biol. Fish. 12: 231-236.
Blumer, L.S. 1986. Parental care sex differences in the brown bullhead, Ictaurus nebulosus (Pisces, Ictaluridae). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 19: 97-104.
Breder, C.M. & D.E. Rosen. 1966. Modes of reproduction in fishes. Natural History Press, New York. 941 pp.
Clutton-Brock, T.H. & G.A. Parker. 1995. Potential reproductive rates and the operation of sexual selection. Q. Rev. Biol. 67: 437-456.
Clutton-Brock, T.H. 1991. Evolution of parental care. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 352 pp.
Fryer, G. & T.D. Iles. 1972. The cichlid fishes of the great lakes of Africa: their biology and evolution. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh. 641 pp.
Gittleman, J.L. 1981. The phylogeny of parental care in fishes. Anim. Behav. 29: 936-941.
Gross, M.R. & R.C. Sargent. 1985. The evolution of male and female parental care in fishes. Amer. Zool. 25: 807-822.
Keenleyside, M.H.A. 1991. Parental care. pp. 191-208. In: M.H.A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes: Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution, Chapman & Hall, London.
Keenleyside. M.H.A. & B.F. Bietz 1981. The reproductive behaviour of Aequidens vittatus (Pisces, Cichlidae) in Surinam, S. America. Env. Biol. Fish. 6: 87-94.
Keenleyside, M.H.A. 1979. Diversity and adaptation in fish behaviour, Springer Verlag, Berlin. 208 pp.
Kuwamura, T. 1986. Parental care and mating systems of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika; a preliminary field survey. J. Ethol. 4; 129-146.
Kuwamura, T. 1997. The evolution of parental care and mating systems among Tanganyikan cichlids. pp. 57-86. In: H. Kawanabe, M. Hori & M. Nagoshi (ed.) Fish Communities in Lake Tanganyika, Kyoto University Press, Kyoto.
Kuwamura, T., M. Nagoshi & T. Sato. 1989. Female-to-male shift of mouth brooding in a cichlid fish, Tanganicodus irsacae, with notes on the breeding habits of two related species in Lake Tanganyika. Env. Biol. Fish. 24: 187-198.
Loiselle, P.V. 1985. The cichlid aquarium. Tetra Press, Melle. 286 pp.
Loiselle, P.V. & G.W. Barlow. 1978. Do fish lek like birds? pp. 33-75. In: E. Reese & F.J. Lighter (ed.) Contrasts in Behavior, Wiley, New York.
Lowe-McConnell, R.H. 1959. Breeding behaviour patterns and ecological differences between Tilapia species and their significance for evolution within the genus Tilapia (Pisces, Cichlidae). Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 132: 1-30.
McKay, K. 1991. Sexual selection and the evolution of cichlid fishes in Lake Malawi, Africa. pp. 241-257, In: M. H. A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes: Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution, Chapman & Hall, London.
Nakai, K., Y. Yanagisawa, T. Sato, Y. Nilmura & M. M. Gashagaza. 1990. Lunar synchronization of spawning in cichlid fishes of the tribe Lamprologini in Lake Tanganyika, J. Fish Biol. 37: 589-598.
Oppenheimer, J. 1970. Mouthbreeding in fishes, Anim. Behav. 18: 493-503.
Perrone, M. & T.M. Zaret. 1979. Parental care patterns in fishes. Amer. Nat. 113: 351-361.
Peters, H.M. & S. Berns. 1982. Die maulbrutpflege der Cichliden. Untersuchungen zur Evolution eines Verhaltensmusters. Z. Zool. Syst. Evolut.-forsch. 20: 18-52.
Schwanck, E, 1987, Lunar periodicity in the spawning of Tilapia mariae in the Ethiop River, Nigeria. J. Fish Biol. 30: 533-537.
Yamaoka, K. 1991. Feeding relationships, pp. 151-172 In: M.H.A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes: Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution, Chapman & Hall, London.
Yamaoka, K., M. Hori & S. Kuratani. 1986. Eco-morphology of feeding in goby-like cichlid fish in Lake Tanganyika. Physiol. Ecol. Japan 23: 17-29.
Yanagisawa, Y. 1986, Parental care in a monogamous cichlid Xenotilapia flavipinnis in Lake Tanganyika. Japan. J. Ichthyol. 33: 249-261.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neat, F.C., Balshine-Earn, S. A field survey of the bredding habits of Eretmodus cyanostictus, a biparental mouthbrooding cichlid in Lake Tanganyika. Environmental Biology of Fishes 55, 333–338 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007580619528
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007580619528