Brood parasitism of an open‐water spawning cichlid by the cuckoo catfish

• Published in: Journal of fish biology Vol. 96; no. 6; pp. 1538 - 1542
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Tetsumi, Koblmüller, Stephan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Brood parasitism; Catfish; Cichlidae; Cyprichromis; Cyprichromis coloratus; Eggs; Endemic species; Females; Fish; Fish eggs; Freshwater fishes; Interspecific; Lake Tanganyika; Lakes; open‐water spawning; Parasitism; Reproductive behavior; Reproductive behaviour; Spawning; Synodontis grandiops; Synodontis multipunctatus; Vertebrates; Lake Tanganyika; Synodontis multipunctatus; Cyprichromis coloratus; open-water spawning; Synodontis grandiops; Lake Tanganyika
• DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14350
• ISSN: 0022-1112

The cuckoo catfish Synodontis multipunctatus and S. grandiops are endemic to Lake Tanganyika and the only known nonavian vertebrates that exhibit obligate interspecific brood parasitism. Seven maternal mouth‐brooding cichlid fish species are reported to be natural hosts of the parasitic catfish and share a common reproductive behaviour that the catfish exploits: cichlid females spawn eggs on the bottom, allowing the catfish female to place her eggs near the cichlid eggs, and the cichlid females collect the catfish eggs by mouth together with their own eggs. However, so far it has not been reported that the cuckoo catfish exploit different spawning behaviours. The genus Cyprichromis consists of five maternal mouth‐brooding species endemic to Lake Tanganyika, most of which spawn and collect eggs in open water. This study reports that the cuckoo catfish also parasitizes the open‐water spawning Cyprichromis coloratus, although it may not be a regular host.