FIN DIGGING AND LEAF LIFTING BY THE CONVICT CICHLID, CICHLASOMA-NIGROFASCIATUM - EXAMPLES OF PARENTAL FOOD PROVISIONING

In fish, the predominant form of parental care is brood defence. The c onvict cichlid, a biparental fish native to Central America, also enga ges in two types of brood provisioning: fin digging and leaf lifting. These behaviour patterns were studied in the field, and in outdoor exp erimental ponds and laboratory aquaria. In the ponds, females fin dug 51 times more often when guarding fry than when unmated; males fin dug three times more frequently when guarding fry than when unmated. Afte r the young became free-swimming, females performed four times (held) and two times (pond and laboratory) more fin digging and twice as many leaf lifts (held) as males. Females in the field increased leaf lifti ng with brood age but males did not. Fin digging frequency by parental females and males increased with brood age. Frequency of adult feedin g bites at the substrate did not change with brood age except in the h eld, where female feeding bites increased with brood age. In the held, females performed more feeding bites than males but in the laboratory males fed more often than females. Thus changes in fin digging freque ncy with brood age do not seem to be strongly linked to the feeding re quirements of the parents. In the laboratory, fin digging frequency wa s influenced by substrate quality (P=0.08) but not by ration (P>0.10). Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that parental fin d igging and leaf lifting help increase food availability to their young .