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Reproductive seasonality in a group of rock‐frequenting cichlid fishes in Lake Malawi
Author(s) -
Beverley A. Marsh,
A.C. Marsh,
Anthony J. Ribbink
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1986.tb03562.x
Subject(s) - biology , cichlid , fecundity , reproduction , seasonality , plankton , ecology , zoology , fishery , population , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , sociology
Annual cycles of breeding activity were found in 10 species of rock‐frequenting cichlid fishes endemic to Lake Malawi. Nine species of closely‐related Mbuna bred throughout the year but all showed peaks of reproductive activity at times when food was most abundant. Most had a bimodal pattern of reproduction with a major peak in August to October, when plankton blooms were common, and another in February to March, when epilithic algae were plentiful. The smallest Mbuna species studied, Melanochromis joanjohnsonae , had a unimodal pattern, with high levels of reproductive activity extending for six to seven months of the year. Cyrtocara taeniolata , the only non‐Mbuna studied, had a highly synchronized unimodal pattern of reproduction. This species produced the smallest eggs, had the highest relative fecundity and was the only species that employed parental care of free‐swimming young.

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