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SGypsyMermaid
04-11-2003, 09:19 PM
i think that we are all familiar with the behaviour of the synodontis multipunctatus catfish which tricks cichlids into brooding their eggs, but did you know that there are a couple of malawi haps that flip the switch and foist their young off on catfish? the victimized catfish species is bagrus meridionalis. the sneaky cichlids are copadichromis pleurostigmoides and ctenopharynx pictus. i don't know yet whether the catfish mouthbrood the young or if they simply allow the cichlid babies to school with their own offspring. i'll do some research and get back to you on that.:shock2:
WorldNation
04-11-2003, 09:37 PM
woah! thats cool! lol. can u take some pictures of this? i wanna see.
SGypsyMermaid
04-11-2003, 09:39 PM
i don't have these fish in my tanks...this is something that i read in an old cichlidnews article on different types of mouthbrooders.
matt1066
04-12-2003, 04:40 PM
Well SGM,

Are'nt you the little cichlid research librarian. :D Good info!

Regards,

Matt
SGypsyMermaid
04-12-2003, 04:45 PM
yup! i just love cichlid tidbits! :D
merlyn2221
04-12-2003, 09:36 PM
Isn't nature amazing! There are opportunists everywhere!
SGypsyMermaid
04-12-2003, 10:31 PM
ok...here's what i found: the cichlids place their young in the bagrus nest and defend the mixed brood for up to 3 weeks. the catfish allow the baby cichlids to remain with their own young, but force them to stay on the periphery of the school causing the cichlids to suffer the most predation and thereby protecting more of the catfish babies. the catfish encourage the young cichlids to remain with the group by allowing them, away from the school, to feed upon their skin! curiouser and curiouser...:hmm:
SGypsyMermaid
04-12-2003, 11:03 PM
btw, the bagrus meridionalis aka 'kampango' is the same catfish that lets ps. crabro eat fish lice off its skin! 2 other malawian cichlids(otopharynx sp. 'cave'/'king cave' and stigmatochromis modestus)like to hang out in the shadows of rocks that are near bagrus nests in order to snack on juvenile catfish. the bagrus seems to be a magnet for various cichlid species.:cool:


here are pics of the players:

http://malawicichlids.com/mw11001.htm

http://www.malawicarsten.dk/engelsk/engelsk%20malawi%20dyr%20og%20planter/kampango%20engelsk.htm

http://fishgeeks.com/cgi-bin/fishpic.cgi?/fresh/copadichromis-pleurostigmoides.jpg&copadichromis+pleurostigmoides

http://malawicichlids.com/mw08032.htm