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Some Observations on the Breeding Habits of Palestine Cicblidæ.
Author(s) -
Liebman E.
Publication year - 1933
Publication title -
proceedings of the zoological society of london
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0370-2774
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1933.tb01632.x
Subject(s) - palestine , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , cichlid , zoology , fishery , history , ancient history
S ummary . In summarising, it may be stated that in the case of the Palestine Cichlidæ it is the male, as well as the female, which carries the eggs and young in the buccal cavity, though the number of the females performing this function is much higher than that of the males. As to the nutrition of the parents, it was found that, for obvious reasons, the fish do not eat during the breeding period. During this time the body is apparently sustained by ( a ) the resorption of the voluminous gonads; ( b ) the fat accumulated during the winter in the belly; and ( c ) in some cases probably by swallowing a proportion of their own eggs or young. Anyhow, in all species a progressive diminution in the number of the eggs or young carried in the mouth was observed, so that at the end of the breeding period they amounted to but a small proportion of the original number.