CICHLID REPRODUCTION

All species show some form of parental care for both eggs and larvae, often extended to free-swimming young until they are several weeks or months old.
The discus fish (Symphysodon species) are noted to feed their young with a secretion on the skin from slime glands. Other South American, some Central American and Madagascan cichlds have also been observed with fry feeding on their parents, but not to the extent of the discus.
Parental care falls into one of three categories: mouthbrooders, substrate brooders, and delayed mouthbrooding where the eggs are laid in the open or in a cave, and subsequently brooded in the mouth(s) of the parents. The mouthbrooding strategy for reproduction is primarily found in cichlids indiginous to the Great Rift Lakes in Africa, with South/Central American/New World cichlids tending to be substrate spawners. Mouthbrooding cichlids will generally have the female of the species immediately taking the newly fertilized eggs into her mouth where they will remain until the fry are free swimming. Some species of mouthbrooders will take food while brooding, while others will go the entire incubation period without taking any food. Most cichlids are maternal mouthbrooders, with some exhibiting bi-parental mouthbrooding, where both parents will take a turn holding the eggs in their mouth. Some mouthbrooders will release their fry once free-swimming and show no further parental care while other mouthbrooders will remain continue to guard the fry allowing them back into the mouth to escape predators. The ability to mouthbrood is thought to have been an evolutionary adaptation to reduce fry predation, likely due to the fishes being located in densely populated waters.