Mate pickiness and polygamous and monogamous species

[raymond82]

Hi,

I've been wondering about a couple of aspects and implications of mate pickiness in apistogramma species:

Are pair-bonding species that picky that a pair that doesn't match will never have fry?

And does mate pickiness exist in polygamous species?

The main reason I'm asking is because it will matter when buying new species, especially since space is always a limiting factor. So, more specifically, what is the best strategy in buying fish in terms of male female ratio to optimize breeding success? And does that depend on wether the species is polygamous or monogamous?

Thanks again!

 

[Mike Wise]

This is an anecdote regarding a monogamous species (A. iniridae) that I had back in the late 70s before they had been described. I got 6 wild specimens that I kept together. They turned out to be 4 males and 2 females. One female died just after arriving. This group developed into 3 big, beautiful males, a kind of 'runty' male and a female. The female produced successful spawn after spawn for nearly a year. She only let the runty male in her territory and breed with her. One day I found the littlest male dead. I think that he got beat up by the other males. The female still had 3 nice males to choose as mates, but she never showed interest in any of them and never spawned again.

I personally will not get monogamous (pertensis- & iniridae-group) or semi-monogamous (nijsseni-group and A. norberti) species unless I can get 4 or more. I sometimes take a chance and acquire pairs/trios of polygamous and casually polygamous species, but I almost never get fewer than 4 specimens or any species if I can help it. Murphy's Law occurs too often when getting only a pair of any fish.

 

[raymond82]

Thanks Mike, that's a beautiful story. Now that I'm thinking about it, mate pickiness (i.e. sexual selection) is quite common among animals. I also realize that old preconceptions about fish behavior not being complex die hard with me. Intuitively, I wouldn't expect a fish to be that picky but of course this kind of more complex behavior is what makes cichlids so much more interesting than other fish.

When you say 4 or more, and since the female's choice is decisive, would you ideally go for more males than females with monogamous or semi-monogamous species?

It does make things a bit more complicated, cause it means that I would either need to have big aquariums or place all the fish in a smaller aquarium, let them pair up and then have separate space to move the rest to.

 

[Mike Wise]

4 specimens is typically my minimum. I prefer 6 or more. I try to get even ratios if old enough to sex. I usually get at least 1 pair from 6 fish. Since I prefer to get young fish, I keep them together until they pair off and then put the pair in a breeding tank.