I noticed some increased activity in my pair of wild A. macmasteri this past weekend, and was able to take a video of courtship/spawning behavior. The first thing I noticed was the male and female shaking their tails at each other. I also noticed that the female seemed to be cleaning the surface of clay pot. The pair would dart in and out of the clay pot, with the female finally swimming upside down against the top of the inner surface of the pot, and the male stationed at the entrance of the park. I was not expecting this to occur, as the pair has 5 week old fry within the same tank. You can see the fry swimming about throughout the video. Sorry for the quality of the video, I took it with my camera.
At 5:30, you can see the male turn his abdomen towards the top of the pot, which I assume represents fertilization of the eggs. At 5:55, you can really see the female more clearly with her abdomen towards the top of the pot.
[video=youtube;aaTi_27Sq2A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaTi_27Sq2A[/video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaTi_27Sq2A
Photo of female with eggs. You'll notice her fry in the pot with her.
Unfortunately, the eggs disappeared on Day 2. Nevertheless, I'm glad I was able to catch that on video.
At 5:30, you can see the male turn his abdomen towards the top of the pot, which I assume represents fertilization of the eggs. At 5:55, you can really see the female more clearly with her abdomen towards the top of the pot.
[video=youtube;aaTi_27Sq2A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaTi_27Sq2A[/video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaTi_27Sq2A
Photo of female with eggs. You'll notice her fry in the pot with her.
Unfortunately, the eggs disappeared on Day 2. Nevertheless, I'm glad I was able to catch that on video.
