Bigmouth Pied: A fish that hatches its eggs in its mouth. B. Fish that incubate eggs in the mouth Which fish bears eggs in the mouth

As a fish care practitioner, I am often approached by aquarists with the following question: "You know, doctor, a female Malawian cichlid fell ill, she stopped eating, her mouth is swollen and her gill covers protrude. How can she be treated?" - I explain that it is not necessary to treat, and the female did not get sick at all. It's just that she, if you look for analogies from the world of mammals, is "pregnant" - she has caviar in her mouth.

Malawians hatch caviar in their mouths. This is the best solution in order to preserve it in the conditions of a very dense population of Lake Malawi (Nyasa). It must be admitted that for the average aquarium, where the fish population is also very dense, the gestation of eggs in the mouth is also very effective and productive. After 21 - 25 days, the females release already fully formed nimble fry into the light of God. which are quite successfully "skerry" in various shelters. With properly organized feeding, they have enough food and some of the fry, sometimes quite significant, survive and successfully join the fish team. But not all females benefit from more than a three-week hunger strike. Or rather, it doesn't work in any way. But large and well-fed fish endure it without risk to life and then quickly eat it up, and young females and fish occupying a low position in the hierarchy of the aquarium society, which are not very well-fed anyway, during incubation, the eggs become skinny without measure and may die. In order to alleviate their fate, caviar must be taken away. Below we will see how this can be done. Caviar from female Malawian cichlids is also taken away in order to obtain as many offspring as possible. Caviar is easily incubated in special devices (incubators), the designs of which have been developed in a great variety. They may or may not be simple. In a special article, I will tell you how to make an incubator for caviar of Malawian cichlids with your own hands and in just 10 minutes. Hatching of fry in such a device is very high and approaches 90 - 95%.


Photo 1.	Photo 2.
Photo 3.	Photo 4.
Strange things sometimes happen to female Malawian cichlids. They suddenly stop eating, try to stay away from other fish (in the upper layers of the water, or hide in shelters), their gill covers are slightly protruding (as in photo 1 above), the bottom of the oral cavity is noticeably protruding downward (as in photo 2 - 4), in addition, these fish periodically "chew" something in their mouths nervously. It may give the impression that something is constantly preventing them from eating, and even such fish can tighten their fins, which is also suspicious. And meanwhile they are not sick at all, in their mouth this is what:
Photo 5.
		Photo 6. In some cases, however, you need to look closely to see all the signs described above. This photo illustrates just such a complex case, the arrow indicates the place to which you need to carefully look. Some bulge is still visible.

While the fish has caviar in its mouth, the bottom of the oral cavity is more swollen, the hatched fry can be laid more compactly and now the fish's mouth no longer looks so full. It may seem that the female did not inform and ate the caviar, which, of course, also happens sometimes. These changes are often confusing for inexperienced aquarists. Here I specifically included a photo and video (see video 2) with mild signs that the female is carrying fry. In practical terms, it is useful to learn to identify these cases.

Well, now let's see how you can take the caviar. It may look a little scary from the outside, but it's not at all difficult to put on. Usually females easily give eggs, stubborn mothers are relatively rare. The operation of weaning eggs proceeds without visible harm to females, if it takes no more than a minute. If nothing happens during this time, let the fish rest in covered top, aerated jigger and try again in ten minutes.

In Africa, as you know, there are various animals, including a wide variety of fish that inhabit its water bodies everywhere - from small puddles to giant rivers and lakes.

Of particular interest are fish that bear and grow their offspring in their mouths. To such caring parents include cichlids of the Great African Lakes - Malawi (Nyasa) and Tanganyika.

For the last twenty years, these cichlids have been very popular inhabitants of aquariums among true connoisseurs of underwater exoticism.

Most of the African cichlids that are kept and bred in Tashkent have adapted well to our aquarium conditions, adapted to Tashkent water with its rather unpredictable hydrochemical parameters.

The main indicator that fish live well in an aquarium is their desire to breed. However, sometimes they do it even in not very comfortable conditions: cramped small aquariums, restless neighbors, etc.

However, reproduction implies not only spawning (it is this that most often occurs in common aquariums), but, most importantly, obtaining full-fledged, viable and strong offspring in the form of, for example, hundreds of fry.

How cichlids spawn

Usually, African cichlids spawn in some favorite place in the aquarium, having previously processed it accordingly: moving part of the soil, clearing the place of plants and small stones, driving away other fish.

Spawning itself occurs quite quickly - the whole process fits into the time period of ten to twenty minutes. Only some species of cichlids can stretch this pleasure for a longer period.

A huge advantage of the cichlids under consideration over other types of cichlids is that during the spawning period they do not occupy part of the aquarium for their nest for a long period. For example angelfish guard and incubate their masonry for about a week. Here everything is different!

During spawning, the female lays eggs and immediately picks up the male's milk with her mouth, thus fertilizing them in her mouth.

The process ends when the female completely fills her mouth with eggs. Therefore, even without being a witness to spawning, you can understand by the swollen sac under the lower jaw of the female - she has already begun to incubate eggs.

Natural incubation of eggs

The female usually carries the eggs for about three weeks. Rather, after three weeks we can definitely say that larvae have already formed from the eggs.

After about a week, the eggs turn into primary larvae, and over the next two weeks they turn into larvae.

Throughout this period, the larvae feed exclusively on their own reserves - the contents of their egg sac. Most females do not feed at all during incubation and at the same time become very depleted.

Another problem with the natural incubation of eggs is that in the general aquarium, females practically do not have the opportunity to release larvae for a walk. Yes, this is exactly what they do in nature, giving them the opportunity to rest, and the larvae to try zooplankton “by the tooth”.

In aquarium conditions, patient females will carry larvae for a very long time, often exceeding the time limits set by nature.

All this can lead to the death of not only offspring, but also the mothers themselves. And if the female turns out to be lazy, then in a few days you will find a scattering of eggs on the ground, which she simply spat out, forgetting about her maternal duties.

How to get offspring from cichlids

What to do to get offspring from your pets?

There are two options: to deposit the female with eggs in a hotel aquarium, where there will be no one else but her, or to artificially incubate the eggs.

But there is a third option - to give the female the opportunity to vilify the eggs for a week or two, and then take the already formed larvae from her.

What are the advantages of this option? First, you don't need a fairly large female jig.

Secondly, a high probability of shedding eggs by the female during her catching is excluded.

Thirdly, and most importantly, you allow the female to fully realize her natural functions - carrying and nursing eggs. This is very important, and if this is not done, then the female may stop breeding altogether.

And the advantages of this method over artificial incubation are even greater, since it is not eggs that are shaken out, which will have to be incubated for a rather long period in very specific conditions, but larvae, which are more resistant to various influences and water parameters compared to eggs.

So, the meaning of all of the above is that when breeding incubating African cichlids, the most the best option obtaining the desired offspring is shaking out the larvae (not eggs!) from the female's mouth a week or two after spawning. In this case, the probability of survival of all larvae can reach one hundred percent.

And amphibians.

The disadvantage of bearing eggs and offspring in the mouth is a small number of eggs. The advantages of this method of reproduction are the ability to quickly change the location of the nest in case of a threat and save the vital energy of the female incubating eggs in her mouth by reducing the number of eggs produced.

Prominent representatives of mouth-incubating fish are many African cichlids.

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Excerpt characterizing Incubation of caviar in the mouth

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Quote message Bigmouth motley: a fish that hatches eggs in its mouth

Most parents want their children to be around them all the time, but the bigmouth motley take that desire to the extreme by carrying the fetuses in their mouths.

Of course, if he moves away from parental romance, then there is a completely natural explanation for such behavior. Fish thus protect offspring from predators. When fry emerge from the eggs, they will be in danger at every step, but at least they will already have fins and the strength to escape from a predator, and the eggs are absolutely defenseless against the eater.

After the female marks the eggs, the male fertilizes them and collects them in his mouth. The gestation process does not last very long - 5-7 days, then fry appear, which go to "free swimming".

Bolsherots live in burrows, which they themselves dig in the ground, and spend their whole lives near them, swimming in an upright position. Very often, whole colonies of largemouths are formed in areas suitable for digging holes. They feed on planktonic or benthic organisms. Found in coastal waters Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as off the Pacific coast of Central America.

The pictures were taken in Lake Worth off the coast of Florida by amateur photographer Steven Kovacs.

Incubation of eggs in the mouth- a method of bearing offspring, characteristic of some types of fish and amphibians.

Prominent representatives of mouth-incubating fish are many African cichlids.