The effects of mate switching tacticon reproductive performance of the severum cichlid, Herosseverus

This study investigated the effects of mate switching on the reproductive performance of the severum cichlid, Herosseverus, by advancing the egg and larval production in hatcheries. Two reproductive tactic treatments of “monogamous pair” and “mate switching” were used for evaluating 4 reproductive traits of egg production, hatching rate, spawning intervals, and starvation tolerance of the larvae in 6 spawning activities. The number of eggs was not significantly different between the two reproductive tactic treatments in the 6 spawning activities, but the spawning intervals, hatching rate, and survival activity index were all significantly different. Daily average egg and larval production in the mate switching treatment were estimated to be 87.3 eggs and 43.1 larvae per pair of fish, respectively, which was 2.89 times and 1.99 times of those in the monogamous pair treatment, who produced about 30.2 eggs and 21.6 larvae per pair. Our results clearly showed that the reproductive tactic of mate switching is a suitable method for increasing the egg and larval production rate of the severum cichlid.