Kidnapping

[blueblue]

kidnapping: Have you ever observed the kidnapping
behaviour of some apistos (different species)? I did observe it for many
times, a recent one is: A female A. sp. tefe is guarding her fry for some
time, and a female inka (which has NOT got any fry of herself yet and is kept in the same tank as the sp. tefe) swims nearby, changes its colour pattern, and finally, i observe that two (and only two) A. sp. tefe's fry are kidnapped and are living with the inka female!! It is an interesting
observation and i would like to know if there are
any similar experiences for sharing.

A related post that i have found here:
http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?p=13738#post13738

 

[Apistt_ed]

Hello blue,

I've noticed it only in same species female cases where the females of the same specie has kidnapped fry that did not belong to them but yours sounds very interesting! I say if the new mom takes just as good care of the fry, why not? just wonder if the young ones kidnapped will have identity problems later ey? =p

do you have any pictures of the inka female with tefe fry?

 

[blueblue]

Hi Apistt_ed,

please take a look at the following.
Essentially, the fry in the photo are already kidnapped by the inka,
and the mother tefe is trying to take back some......

eventually, the inka got a few and looked after the fry for some days...
i finally caught all the fry out MYSELF (so, i am the final winner, hehhee

Hello blue,

I've noticed it only in same species female cases where the females of the same specie has kidnapped fry that did not belong to them but yours sounds very interesting! I say if the new mom takes just as good care of the fry, why not? just wonder if the young ones kidnapped will have identity problems later ey? =p

do you have any pictures of the inka female with tefe fry?

 

[Seb]

lol thats strange, especially for different species, I would have thought that the females would see other species fry as future competition?

My male Cacatuoides occasionally used to steal a few fry from the female and swim away into a corner and look after them for a bit. If the female came close he would put them in his mouth and swim off again lol

 

[blueblue]

lol thats strange, especially for different species, I would have thought that the females would see other species fry as future competition?

My male Cacatuoides occasionally used to steal a few fry from the female and swim away into a corner and look after them for a bit. If the female came close he would put them in his mouth and swim off again lol

Thanks Seb for your comments. After posting this thread in some local forums in Hong Kong, I have heard of many similar stories... So, this kind of kidnapping actually occurs from time to time...

 

[mooman]

I've read of it, but never seen it. The unusual part is that the kidnapping female has no fry of her own. In nature females steal fry and add them to their broods in order to lessen the chance that thier fry will be the ones that get picked off by predators. I've also read that the opposite can happen. If a females brood gets too small, she may "give" the fry to another female. That way she can start on her next batch, and there will be at least a chance that some of her orphan fry will survive under the protection of thier new foster mother. Pretty amazing behavior in my opinion.

PS source is a book called "The Cichlid Fish", but i can't remember the author. It's a great read though.

 

[IndianaSam]

PS source is a book called "The Cichlid Fish", but i can't remember the author. It's a great read though.

Is it this book? -->http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738203769/104-7905703-9365512?v=glance&n=283155

 

[mooman]

Go Steelers!!!!! yeah, that's it. Great read. The author is an academic that works mostly with midas cichlids if I remember correctly, but the book itself is not too dry. That seems like a good price too.

 

[Mike Wise]

Dr. George Barlow is one of the rare professional ichthyologists who is willing to talk with the average aquarist, especially about cichlid behavior. Just one word of advice: don't call him "Dr. Barlow", call him George!