Spawning and Egg Question

[Europhyllia]

I still haven't seen the Mandarins do a complete spawning ascent with egg release. I also usually don't have time to watch them the whole evening and I no longer have moonlights so that may be part of it.

Here's what's been happening so far:
Bob (the female) definitely does seem to develop eggs. She looks increasingly pregnant. Then she looses the bump and starts over.
Can I assume she does release the eggs? Or do they get absorbed when not used?

Behavior is usually like this:
Bruce (the male) pretty much pursues Bob every evening. For quite a few days Bob will seem kind of annoyed with this so it often ends up with Bob being chased around.
As Bob gets more gravid she eventually becomes more interested in the spawning. Those days are really nice to watch because there's no chase (duh -nobody fleeing. lol) and she seems to seek out Bruce.

So Bruce's actions are pretty much always the same. Bob changes depending on egg development.

It's interesting how predictable they are though. I can sort of tell by her body shape if she's going to be calm/receptive or not.

So back to the question: Can I assume they are really spawning from time to time or could eggs just get absorbed and new ones develop?

[hobogato]

i dont know the answer, but thought i would post a link to the dragonette forum on marine and ornamental fish breeding forum (mofib) for you. lots of breeding info and experience there...

dragonette forum (http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=176)

forum index (http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/index.php)

[Europhyllia]

LOL. I'm on there too :D

It just seems like those guys watch it, video tape it, etc. and would just know if it happened or not. I somehow just always miss the boat.

[jpond83]

i think its funny your mated pairs name is bruce and bob. thats soo wrong

[Kristy]

Hi Karin,
I once read a super-long thread on RC (one of those where it splits twice) about mandarins' spawning behaviors. One of the things I learned was that they do "practice runs" at the ascent for a few weeks to months before you actually get the releasing of eggs. So, it could be that they are still doing their practice runs, or maybe they have started spawning, but the released eggs get consumed before you're ever able to see anything.

I had a pair of scooter blennies doing the same thing at the time and there is nothing more touching and sweet to witness in your tank. Now that I've been through a spawning or two of our maroon clownfish, I can tell you how easy it would be to NOT notice this going on in your tank if you do not know exactly what you are looking for and exactly when to look for it.

Keep reading mofib and Matt Wittenrich's blog for lots of good info and if I can find the link for that RC thread I'll post it here. It took me days to read it though!

[corruption]

jpond: They're a progressive, modern pair of Mandarins! :D

-Justin

[Europhyllia]

Yes I have heard about the practice runs. What makes me think that something is happening is that for example yesterday she was very receptive and her belly was huge. Today she's back to skinny. I was just wondering what happened to the eggs inside of her - released or absorbed (once they are released I can imagine what happens with clowns and cardinals just waiting for a snack).
Not that I could actually do anything with them... lol

[corruption]

I would suspect that the chances that eggs are being released are fairly high -- they're likely all being consumed shortly after release. Free food for the corals! :)

-Justin

[Europhyllia]

I would suspect that the chances that eggs are being released are fairly high

-Justin
Got to invest in some moonlights then... :D

[Kristy]

We watched after dark with a flashlight while our 200+ clownfish fry became free-swimming larvae. They wandered about the tank, settling on this coral and that one, getting swallowed right up. Amazing to see. And then, when the hawkfish noticed them and started going nuts chomping them down, and the butterfly noticed the hawkfish and began to follow suit, feeding frenzy. We watched for about an hour and only about half of the eggs had hatched by the time we went to bed, I would guess.

The next morning there was not one bit of evidence that anything had happened. And I was really looking for it, even before the lights came on. The only thing that was the slightest bit different is that the basket starfish stayed open longer after lights on than usual, as if maybe it was still catching something in the water column? Or who knows?

So... it would be very unlikely that you would be able to tell any difference unless you have some way of telling when your corals are well-fed. But from what you write, I'd guess that your corals are just about ALWAYS well-fed!

[Third Coast Tropical]

Not sure in mandarins, but eggs can be re-absorbed,...so that is very much a possibility. Possible reasons for it could be they were not ready, timing was wrong, water parameters not suitable for spawn, and probably a myriad of other possibilities. Also, it is possible they spawned too. Fish, don't trust them....as soon as you turn your back, they are up to no good!

[Europhyllia]

Thanks L for your input. I figured you'd know stuff like that :)