I wasn't sure where to post this...hope this is OK:
This video shows a breeding behavior called "glancing". In essence it's the parents feeding the fry from the slime coat on their body. I spoke with Juan Miquel from the cichlid room companion. He said that to the best of hisknowledge this behavior hasn't previously been documented for this species....others yes...but not managuense.
Here's how it goes: Invariably the male ad female will start making a snapping gulping movement with their mouth. It looks quite violent, but if you watch the video you will see the fish spit out any fry that were unlucky enough to get caught up in the mouth. Right after the mouth snapping the fish will either settle to the bottom on their side, or even prop themselves diagonally against the tank side or driftwood. The fry will then dart in and apparently eat off the side of the parent. I don't know what the "snapping" means...but it happens in that order. I would speculate that it some very large "dinner bell" underwater. It almost seems like the parents are in competition with each other in getting and keeping the fry's attention. When they go to the males side the female snaps and lays on her side...vise versa when the female has the fry.
Today in the Fishroom - Managuense Fry "Glancing"
I posted photos of "Momma"guense. Here's "Poppa"guense. almost without fail, shortly after the fry start swimming, they will make ther way over to the male's side. They generally start out in a pretty condensed cloud.
How's this for camouflage?
Cheers,
Mo
"Aquamojo"
