Mouthbrooder: Difference between revisions

[[Image:Cyphotilapia frontosa mouthbrooding.jpg|thumb|right|190px|A female ''[[Cyphotilapia frontosa]]'' mouthbrooding [[juvenile fish|fry]] which can be seen looking out from her mouth]]

'''Mouthbrooding''', also known as '''oral incubation''' and '''buccal incubation''', is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a variety of different animals, mostsuch notablyas the [[Darwin's Frog|Darwin's frog]], fishesfish are by far the most diverse mouthbrooders. Mouthbrooding has evolved independently in several different families of fish.<ref>Helfman, G., Collette, B, Facey, D.: The Diversity of Fishes, Blackwell Publishing, 1997. {{ISBN |0-86542-256-7}}</ref>

'''Paternal mouthbrooders''' are species where the male looks after the eggs. Paternal mouthbrooders include the [[arowana]], thevarious mouthbrooding bettabettas and gouramies such as ''[[Betta pugnax]]'', and sea catfish such as ''[[Ariopsis felis]]''. Among cichlids[[cichlid]]s, paternal mouthbrooding is relatively rare, but is found among some of the [[Tilapia|tilapiines]], most notably the black-chin tilapia ''[[Sarotherodon melanotheron]]''.

In the case of the '''maternal mouthbrooders''', the female takes the eggs. Maternal mouthbrooders are found among both African and South American cichlids. African examples are the [[haplochromines]], such as the [[mbuna]], ''[[Astatotilapia burtoni]]'', and the dwarf mouthbrooders ''Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor'', and some of the tilapiines, such as ''[[Oreochromis mossambicus]]'' and ''[[Oreochromis niloticus]]''. The South American maternal mouthbrooders are all members of the subfamily [[Geophaginae]] subfamily (commonly known as "eartheaters" on account of their substrate-sifting feeding mode) such as ''[[Gymnogeophagus balzanii]]'' and ''[[Geophagus steindachneri]]''.

'''Biparental mouthbrooding''' occurs where both parents take some of the eggs. This is relatively rare, but is found among the cichlid genus ''[[Xenotilapia]]'', and a single catfish, the [[spatula-barbled catfish]] (''Phyllonemus typus'').

Typically, after courtship, the male [[Fertilisation|fertilises]] the eggs and then collects them in his mouth, holding onto them until they hatch. During this time he cannot feed. Among the maternal mouthbrooding cichlids, it is quite common (e.g., among the mbuna) for the male to fertilise the eggs only once they are in the female's mouth. Some cichlids are able to feed while mouthbrooding the eggs, but invariably they feed less often than they would otherwise do, and after mouthbrooding one batch of eggs, all mouthbrooding fish will beare underweight and requiringrequire a period of time to feed and make goodup for the depletion of their energy reserves.<ref>Loiselle, P.: The Cichlid Aquarium, Tetra Press, 1985. {{ISBN |3-923880-20-0}}</ref>

Some commercially important fish are mouthbrooders, most notably among the [[tilapiines]] and [[arowana]]s. Fry harvesting, getting the brooding fish to open its mouth and release the fry, is important if the fry are to be reared artificially. In the case of endangered species, such as [[Asian arowana]], harvesting may be supervised by an official who willto certify that the fish farm is a genuine producer of captive-bred fish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dragonfish.com/photo28.htm|title=Fish tank harvest|publisher=Dragonfish|accessdateaccess-date=2007-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dragonfish.com/photo31.htm|title=RTG harvest captured by video camera, 26 September 2001|publisher=Dragonfish|accessdateaccess-date=2007-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dragonfish.com/photo32.htm|title=Finally captured on camera, "the magical moment"!|publisher=Dragonfish|accessdateaccess-date=2007-03-13}}</ref>

Some fish have evolved to exploit the mouthbrooding behaviour of other species. ''[[Synodontis multipunctatus]]'', also known as the '''cuckoo catfish''', combines mouthbrooding with the behavior of a [[brood parasite]]: it will eateats the host mouthbrooder's eggs, while spawning and simultaneously laying and fertilizing its own eggs. The mouthbrooder (typically a cichlid) will incubateincubates the cuckoo catfish young, the catfish eggs hatch earlier than the cichlid's eggs, and eat the as-yet unhatched cichlid eggs before being set free.

* [[Bagridae]] (Bagrid catfish): Onethe only mouthbrooding species ofin the family is ''[[Bagrus meridionalis]]'', which is a biparental mouthbroodersmouthbrooder

* [[Cichlidae]] (cichlids): Numerous species are mouthbrooders, of these most aretypically maternal mouthbrooders. OccasionalSome are paternal mouthbroodingmouthbrooders e.g. ''[[Sarotherodon melanotheron]]'', infrequentlyor biparental mouthbrooders e.g. [[eretmodine]] cichlids.

* [[LuciocephalidaeChannidae]] (pikeheadssnakeheads): AllSome members of ''[[Channa]]'' are paternal mouthbrooders.

* [[Osphronemidae]] (gouramis): A few genera (notably ''[[Betta]]'', by far the largest genus) contain or consist entirely of paternal mouthbrooders. Two species of ''[[Sphaerichthys]]'' are paternalmaternal mouthbrooders.

* [[Osteoglossidae]] (arowanas): AllSome members are paternal mouthbrooders

{{diversityDiversity of fish}}

[[Category:ReproductionFish reproduction]]