In this small video clip, we can see a female Rheoheros lentiginosus guarding her fry which she hides in a cave among the rocks in the current of Rio Puyacatengo, Grijalva-Usumacinta drainage, Mexico, then a pair guards their fry in a pit among the rocks and finally, we see a female guiding her fry in the open to feed, the male is not visible since they keep their distance, due to fishermen's pressure, who use spearguns and target breeding fish.
In this video clip we can see several Oreochromis aureus in Teuchitlán spring, Ameca drainage in Jalisco [México], where, as in many other places around the world, this species has been introduced. The male has prepared two spawning sites, which consist of a shallow depression in the sand, cleared of pebbles and gravel, and he constantly makes sure that they are clean and ready for spawning. When a group of females passes by — some of them already mouthbrooding — the male — in bright courting coloration — approaches them and courts them by displaying his flank and extended fins, dancing in front of them. Once in a while, a female follows him to the spawning site, where he courts her while releasing his sperm, the female then spawns some eggs, which then get fertilized, and takes them into her mouth, once the female has deposited all eggs she has available for the particular male she is chased away from the territory. She will then mouthbrood the eggs and fry alone, although it is still possible that she may spawn some more eggs with a different male.
In this short video clip, we observe a female Vieja bifasciata guarding her babies, which she protects in a large pit among the rocks, fry predatory Astyanax being all around. This species is very shy, with males rarely remaining around the nest when a human gets close, and this is for a good reason, the increase in the number of fishermen who hunt them with spearguns selects just for the more precautious fish. It is a very delicate balance; if they stay, they run a big risk of being speargunned, if they flee, their babies run a big risk to be devoured by predators.
In this video, we can see the coordinated efforts of a pair of Thorichthys maculipinnis protecting their fry in the Motzorongo river, Papaloapan drainage in Veracruz [Mexico]. Male and female take quick turns to stray, presumably to look for some food, but quickly return to continue the protection of the fry.
A female Vieja fenestrata guarding her fry at Amatlán, Río Tonto, Papaloapan drainage [Mexico]. Upon my approach the male has fled, as is usual for Vieja species, the female then remains with the fry, guiding them and protecting them from the plentiful Astyanax which wait for any distraction to prey on some fry, her activity is relentless.
A pair of Thorichthys maculipinnis guarding their fry in the Acatlan River at Acatlan [Mexico]. This small headwater river is an affluent of the Rio Tonto, Papaloapan drainage. In the video the close coordination of the pair as they protect their fry is evident.
A pair of Thorichthys meeki guarding their fry in the Subin River, Usumacinta drainage [Guatemala]. Pairs of Thorichthys are extremely coordinated in guarding their fry, an absolute necessity to avoid heavy predication by Astyanax species and other cichlids.
In this video a pair of Thorichthys socolofi lead their fry in the shallow water of the Mizol-ha river, Tulija drainage [Chiapas].
Rheoheros coeruleus pair guarding fry in the current of the Mizol-Ha River, Tulija drainage [Mexico].
In this video a pair of Cryptoheros spilurus in Lake Izabal [Guatemala] is seen preparing a cave nest in a concavity under a log in the sandy and often bare bottom the lake. male and female court each other and chase intruders away.
In this video a male Trichromis salvini in Lake Izabal [Guatemala] has established a territory with a cave in the form of a concavity under a log to be use as nest. Females note the male and likely the convenience of the breeding site and actively court the male and chase other females away. The males seems still busy preparing the cave and chases most females away.
In this video a pair of Trichromis salvini in Lake Izabal, Dulce drainage [Guatemala] guard their already large fry near a sunken trunk. Parents venture away from structures just every so often and prefer to remain close to them to be able to protect their fry.
In this video, we can see a pair of Cryptoheros spilurus as they guard and conduct their fry in the flat bare bottom of Lake Izabal, Dulce drainage [Guatemala]. Pairs are well coordinated in the defense of their fry and move them quickly through bare bottom zones, favoring areas with some structure for the fry to hide, where they seem more at ease.
In this short video Thorichthys aureus is shown in Lake Izabal, Dulce drainage [Guatemala] as they guard for their wrigglers which are located in a pit, normally dug out at the base of a rock, a piece of wood or under a sunken leaf. The parents (more closely the female) guard the area but just in few occasions do they actually get too close to the pit itself, presumably not to reveal the precise location of the wrigglers. In the third clip in this video a female is moving the wrigglers from one pit to another, not in all cases [ss], unlike other Thorichthys species, builds more than one pit to move the fry.
Thorichthys aureus pair spawning on a rock in Lake Izabal, Dulce drainage [Guatemala].
In this short video of a pair of Thorichthys meeki guarding their wrigglers in the San Juan River, Usumacinta drainage at San Juan [Guatemala] the camera is moved back and forth towards the female for her reflection in the case to elicit the defensive intimidating mechanism characteristic of this species, where they expands their gular pouches towards the camera making them appear bigger.
In this short video we first show a pair of Thorichthys helleri guarding their wrigglers which are deposited in a dug-up pit in front of a small rock in the silt covered bottom of the San Juan River, tributary of Rio de la Pasion, Usumacinta drainage [Guatemala]. In the second part of the video a male defends vigorously his fry and guide them until he finally meets the female, which was momentarily absent for some reason.
In this short video clip a female is seen watching her fry in the current of the San Juan River, a tributary of Rio de la Pasion in the Usumacinta drainage at the town of San Juan in the Peten province [Guatemala]. Even since a small age, fry are very skillful in swimming in the current, which they always do remaining close to the substrate.
In this short video clip a young Wajpamheros nourissati uses his thick lips to press hard against the silt covered rocks in search of invertebrates in the current of the San Juan River, Pasion, Usumacinta drainage [Guatemala]. Once a mouthful is obtained, it is quickly examined and the silt spit out.
This short video shows a pair of Cryptoheros spilurus guarding their fry in shallow water in the Cienegas River, Dulce drainage [Guatemala]. The great coordination between parents in defending the fry, always placed in a protected area is necessary to avoid depredation.
In this short video clip you can see a Thorichthys aureus parent of undetermined sex guiding the fry in the shallow areas of the Cienegas River, Dulce drainage [Guatemala]. The partner was not to be seen which in the case of Thorichthys means a likely bad event happened. The nervousness of the remaining partner is apparent in the fast guiding of the fry and excess aggressiveness towards anything approaching. A single parent has very slim chances to successfully raise a clutch of babies alone, and would not be achieved without an extraordinary use of energy.
Trichromis salvini pair guarding their babies in the Cienegas River, Dulce drainage [Guatemala]. This short clip shows a very typical behavior of this species when guarding fry. Fry are taken out to the open to feed under the close supervision of both parents, always near a covered area normally comprised of sunken wood or overhanging vegetation — most likely where they have spawned. At the slightest sign of thread the parents immediately guide the babies back to the covered area where they hide until the thread has vanished.
A group of young adults of Chuco godmanni is seen in the shallow water of Agua Caliente stream in the west part of Lake Izabal, Dulce drainage [Guatemala]. In this video you can see the gregarious nature of this species.
In this video clip we can see a pair of Vieja melanurus as they guide their fry in Lake Peten-Itza [Guatemala]. The already large enough fry are very fast and are led by the parents trough large areas close to the substrate. Just when no thread is present they slow down the pace a little, but never remain static. We can see the large area the parents demand for the protection of their babies from which potential predators are chased away.
In this video, a pair of Thorichthys affinis is seen in the shallow Vallisneria rich areas of Lake Peten-Itza, both parent coordinate closely to guard the fry. In the second part of the video you see why this is so important, when some ambushing juveniles of Petenia splendida dash towards the fry. When the pair loose coordination in defense of the fry from one Petenia, other hidden specimens take the opportunity to attack. In the end, the coordination of the [ss] parents repelling the attacks saves most of the fry.
Group of Paraneetroplus bulleri in the strong current of the Ajal River, Coatzacoalcos drainage [Mexico].
A Maskaheros regani female guarding her fry in the Rio Ajal, Coatzacoalcos drainage [Mexico]. This shy species is subject to a great stress while guarding their fry in the predators rich environment where they live. Males are quick to abandon breeding females due to their shyness.
Thorichthys callolepis pair guarding their fry in an area of moderate current of the Ajal River, Coatzacoalcos drainage [Oaxaca]. Pairs have to be extremely well coordinated to defend their fry an environment full of potential predators.
A pair of Thorichthys panchovillai (blue morph) in the Ajal River, Coatzacoalcos drainage [Mexico] guard their babies in an extremely well coordinated tactic. An approaching courting pair looking to establish a territory is driven away from the territory with the join effort of the pair.
A nervous female Amphilophus trimaculatus guides her babies out of a sheltered area in the shallow Ostuta River whenever she sees the environment as safe enough, her beautiful and striking yellow coloration signals to by-passers of her aggressive disposition in defense of her young.
A group of young and adult Vieja zonata is shown before a nervous female guarding her large numerous babies in a protected area in the shallow Ostuta River [Mexico]. The threat to the babies at all times is clear in this video, although luckily the fry has reached a large enough size to protect themselves.
A Astatheros macracanthus pair guarding their hidden wrigglers in the shallow water of the Ostuta River [Mexico].
Chiapaheros grammodes female guarding her fry in Nandaburé, in a small affluent of Rio Grande de Grijalva, Grijalva drainage [Mexico]. The female, quite visible with her black pelvic fins, with fast runs defends a large territory in the middle of which her fry graze the sunken leaves for food. The much larger male (not visible in this video) temporarily abandons the territory at the slightest sign of danger.
Vieja hartwegi breeding in Santo Domingo River, Grijalva drainage [Chiapas]. Pairs keep their wrigglers and small fry in caves and take them out for feeding when they feel there is enough safety. [ss] are very shy and the male would temporarily abandon the territory when the threat is too large. Nevertheless as they fry grows the male takes bigger risks, in the last part we can see a male guiding the fry as the female was missing for some reason. Fry move very fast lead by the parents.
Herichthys minckleyi protecting their nest in Poza de la Becerra, Cuatro Cienegas valley. The females normally spawn in caves and after a while when the fry gets larger they are expelled from the territories by the male, caring singly for the babies until they are independent. Once the nest is left, caves are cleaned and used by other females. Males are normally black in coloration when breeding or dominant, in the video however the male shows a normal coloration, which indicates it is a large and aggressive male not willing to spend the energy necessary (and risk involved) in showing a full black breeding coloration, size is enough to persuade intruders to get close to the nest.
Herichthys labridens guarding and feeding their fry in the man made exit channel of Media Luna spring, Panuco drainage; Rioverde valley, San Luis Potosi.
Herichthys pame digging a nest in the calcaeous substrate of Rio Tamasopo, Gallinas river in the Panuco river drainage; San Luis Potosí. Breeding occurs from March to August with a peak in April.
Herichthys minckleyi xanthic form at Poza de la Becerra, Cuatro Cienegas, Rio Bravo drainage. There is always one or two xanthic individuals at this place.
The fish community in the Ajal River, Coatzacoalcos drainage. The amazing fish community of this river can be observed in this clip, obtained by letting the video camera run for a few minutes in an area with some sunken logs.