| QUOTE (http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Marshall_Clarius.html) |
| As the 'Tropical World' article covers this in much detail we will briefly look at the experiences of Ryedale member Mr. Paul Campion who enjoyed both the thrill and despair of spawning a pair of albino batrachus, on several occasions, during the late 1990s. Paul found that it took a two thirds change of water, with water that had been stood for a day added as a replacement, in order to get his pair of batrachus to spawn. Pre-spawning was always indicated by the pair's increased appetite and the nudging of each other's genital regions. Eggs were then released during a wrapping movement. The aquarist whose batrachus were the parents of Paul's pair told him that, with a lack of suitable nest building sites, these fish had dug a primitive nest into the gravel, but no nest was ever constructed a generation on as the female just scattered eggs all over the substrate. The male then fertilised these eggs, but although a large number had been shed each time not one egg would ever prove to be fertile. Finally if you are a visitor to the Aquarticles web-site who has managed to breed any Clarias species within the confines of aquaria please finish our look at these fascinating fish by e-mailing a small report to Howard who I know would relish the prospect of adding your article to the Aquarticles site. |
| QUOTE (http://www.scotcat.com/articles/article67.htm) |
| If a pair is found, then you can observe the behaviour, breeding cichlids is nearly comparable to that as with Clarias batrachus, as regarding the partner adjustment or the division of responsibilities. Because at least at the breeding time there seems to exist a kind of pair connection with Clarias batrachus. The spawning of the animals can extend to nearly a whole day. Both partners work together to dig a hollow in the gravel, which has a diameter of approximately 30 cm. In mating the male loops u-shaped over the female. (see thumbnails on menu) Depending upon the size of the animals altogether some hundreds to over 1.500 eggs are delivered. After the last spawning the male protects the pit with the eggs, the female secures the territory around it. The embryos slip out after approximately 30 hours. They are protected only a few days by the parents against possible enemies. |
| QUOTE (http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=62&fr=1&sts=) |
| The following is an observation of the reproduction process of a pair of 38cm walking catfish in a 700 litre aquarium. The breeding pair dig a hollow, which has a diameter of approximately 30cms -about 38cms. On the day of reproduction courting reaches a turbulent level. The animals mate over many hours; thirty, maybe forty times, initially without any eggs delivered. Reproduction dragged on over 20 hours. During mating, the female pushes her head against the center of the male’s body, actually pressing her partner into a u-shape. Throughout this time the pair do not tolerate any other fish in proximity to the nest. Eggs soon after delivary drop to the substrate and remain stuck there. Several hundred to a thousand eggs are laid and one can expect even higher numbers from fully-grown pairs. After the female has laid all her eggs, she seems to avoid the nest, but secures the outer perimeter of the nest and, subsequent to the final spawning activity, the male takes sole responsibility of directly guarding the nest. At 25° C the embryos hatch after approximately 30 hours. During this phase, defence of the nest once more becomes heightened in both partners, with division of responsibilities as before. After a further two days both partners’ defensive vigour weakens, a further three days, the fry, now with barbles visible to the naked eye, swim freely. The walking catfish pair spawned four times within the period of only five months! More details are available in this webpage (Ros, 2004c). |