Frontosa Cichlid
The Frontosa Cichlid is know as a mouth brooder. the male and female fish will circle each other as as they do this the male will nudge the females abdomen to get the eggs out and he will then spray milt over them to fertilize them. once the eggs have been fertilized the female will them pick up the eggs in her mouth and will carry the fertilized eggs until the fry are mature enough to survive on their own without needing to be protected. with this method it takes up a lot of energy as the female is having to carry round the eggs and she will not eat until they are strong enough to survive. With this method only including one female and one male it means that there is no genetic diversity however as the fry are protected within the females mouth the fry have a much higher chance of survival compared to other fish. As the fish have a higher success rate the Frontosa doesn't produce many eggs because the female needs to be able to fit them in her mouth.
The frontosa will produce a smaller amount of eggs because their survival strategy is to protect their fry until they are able to find food themselves and survive by themselves. As the female carries both eggs and fry this breeding method has a high energy cost as the female cannot eat throughout in case she eats some of the eggs, so before breeding occurs she will eat a lot of food to allow her own survival.
This is a video of two Frontosa Cichlids breeding and another of the female releasing the fry:
The frontosa will produce a smaller amount of eggs because their survival strategy is to protect their fry until they are able to find food themselves and survive by themselves. As the female carries both eggs and fry this breeding method has a high energy cost as the female cannot eat throughout in case she eats some of the eggs, so before breeding occurs she will eat a lot of food to allow her own survival.
This is a video of two Frontosa Cichlids breeding and another of the female releasing the fry:
Advantages
The advantages to this method compared to the other two fish is that it has a high success rate for all the fry and eggs. The eggs are kept safe and are unlikely to get eaten and that there are quite a lot of eggs produced. however the Goldfish and seahorse may produce more eggs most of the fry and eggs do not survive. Also these fish protect their fry unlike the others.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages to this method is that the female doesn't eat for a large amount of time which isn't good for her. Also because the female protects them in her mouth and no where else if something was to happen to her the eggs and fry would be likely to die too. there is also no genetic diversity in this method like there is with Goldfish. There is also a limited supply of offspring as the female can only carry a certain amount off eggs in her mouth so some may get left behind and will not survive. Compared to Goldfish this method has an extremely high energy cost due to parental protection from when they are eggs till they become fry and longer unlike Seahorses who will protect their young at the beginning but not once they are out of the pouch.
An advantage for this fish using this breeding method compared to the others is that most of its young will survive meaning their breed of fish will have more offspring than others, but it caould case the fish to die due to the energy it is using to keep its eggs/fry safe.
The advantages to this method compared to the other two fish is that it has a high success rate for all the fry and eggs. The eggs are kept safe and are unlikely to get eaten and that there are quite a lot of eggs produced. however the Goldfish and seahorse may produce more eggs most of the fry and eggs do not survive. Also these fish protect their fry unlike the others.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages to this method is that the female doesn't eat for a large amount of time which isn't good for her. Also because the female protects them in her mouth and no where else if something was to happen to her the eggs and fry would be likely to die too. there is also no genetic diversity in this method like there is with Goldfish. There is also a limited supply of offspring as the female can only carry a certain amount off eggs in her mouth so some may get left behind and will not survive. Compared to Goldfish this method has an extremely high energy cost due to parental protection from when they are eggs till they become fry and longer unlike Seahorses who will protect their young at the beginning but not once they are out of the pouch.
An advantage for this fish using this breeding method compared to the others is that most of its young will survive meaning their breed of fish will have more offspring than others, but it caould case the fish to die due to the energy it is using to keep its eggs/fry safe.