Oral Fertilization in a Mouthbrooding Cichlid Fish

摘要

AbstractIt has been hypothesized that in maternal mouthbrooding cichlids the conspicuous markings on the male's anal fin function as “egg‐dummies” by fooling the female into snapping at them, thereby inhaling sperm and assuring fertilization of the eggs in the mouth. I show experimentally inPseudocrenilabrus multicolor, an East African maternal mouthbrooder, that indeed oral fertilization takes place. Nevertheless, external fertilization plays a significant role