Authors
Roger Schürch, Barbara Taborsky
Publication date
2005/1/1
Journal
Behaviour
Volume
142
Issue
3
Pages
265-281
Publisher
Brill
Description
The mouthbrooding cichlid Tropheus moorii exhibits an exceptional degree of maternal investment. Females produce very large eggs, which are incubated for a period of six weeks, and they feed their young in the mouth while starving themselves. Only very few fish species are known to feed their young. We hypothesized that feeding may either (1) benefit females directly if young develop faster, or (2) provide a size advantage to young. To distinguish between these mutually non-exclusive hypotheses, we measured costs and benefits arising for mouthbrooding females when feeding their young. Field observations revealed that mouthbrooding females reduced bite rates, locomotion and territorial defence compared to non-brooding adults. Feeding rates correlated positively with locomotion, as fish moving around more also spent more time with territory defence and other social interactions. This suggests that …
Total citations
Scholar articles
R Schürch, B Taborsky - Behaviour, 2005