Re: spawning?

["Andrew Faust" <andrewfaust@alum.mit.edu>]

First i'd like to say that anything I present regarding this issue is almost
purely speculation, as opposed to opinion or observation, as I have no
concrete experience to back up my knowledge. Castles in the air...
   I speculate one reason parents eat their fry might have to do something
with them not 'knowing' they are parents anymore. At some point after the
fry become free-swimming, the parents cease to feel the need to protect, and
instead see the babies as just another small floating TV-dinner which might
taste good.
   This is another instance where it'd be interesting to know the frequency
of baby-munching in the wild. Could be, in the wild, (*speculation
alert*)that there comes a time in their development when the little ones
know to disperse and flee into the far reaches of the river-pool, escaping
the jaws of larger fish (including mom & dad). This opportunity is difficult
to provide in the 25gal aquarium, even with java moss and caves present.
(removing the babies, of course, just makes the whole issue moot, for better
or worse.)

I like this discussion too, although the only 'science' we have here is tank
observation and anecdotal evidence. Still, it may be useful to remember
we're talking about the fish *as they live in aquaria*; any knowledge of
what they are really like in the wild is only useful as a comparison tool,
not as a standard to be reached, because there's just no way an individual
can do it. Well, maybe a really crazy person (with no spouse, job, or
budget) could.  8-P

cheers
-andrew


-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Brock <michael@fun-da-mentals.com>
To: apisto@admin.listbox.com <apisto@admin.listbox.com>
Date: Sunday, August 15, 1999 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: spawning?


>This has been quite the inciteful discussion. Incredibly informative.
>
>Another question to keep things going:  We've (notice that i add myself
>here without ever having made a comment<g>) talked about the egg eating
>behaviour, the group as whole apparently leaning towards this having an
>environmental cause (maybe).  How about fry eating?  Same cause/same
>effect?

....



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