Some cichlid fish mothers snack on their own offspring to ensure their own survival. New research suggests that the mothers can boost their chemical defences by using antioxidants found in their own ...

Aquatic vertebrates exhibit an extraordinary array of parental care strategies that enhance offspring survival in diverse environments. In teleost fishes, behaviours range from substrate guarding and ...

There are concerned, overprotective parents, and then there are cichlid fish. After a male cichlid fertilizes the female’s eggs, she holds her entire brood of embryos inside her mouth for two weeks ...

Raising babies can be exhausting—so much so that some mouthbrooding mothers snack on their young, according to a new study. A central African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni—commonly called Burton ...

While many creatures lay eggs or give birth to live young in familiar ways, some have developed unique methods to protect their offspring. One such strategy is mouthbrooding, where parents carry and ...

A study of Australian fish that care for offspring through mouthbrooding shows that things underwater are not always as monogamous as they seem. By Elizabeth Preston Lurking among the underwater ...

In an extreme feat of parenting, some female cichlid fish carry their eggs and babies in their mouths for about two weeks. In this way, the young fish and fish-to-be are protected from predators in ...

When animals practice monogamy, we can generally tell right away. After all, couples like to hang out together, whether they’re humans or squirrels or hawks. But one fish keeps its monogamy so ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American I first encountered a male jawfish with a ...

A mouthbrooding male (IMAGE) University of Maryland Caption A male A. burtoni fish ignores its food while mouthbrooding.

Eight fascinating animal species, such as Darwin's frog and mouthbrooding cichlids, exhibit unique reproductive strategies where males carry fertilized eggs in their mouths until they hatch. This ...