Discus Fish Parent Young Like Mammalian Mothers

[Moontanman]

Discus Fish Parent Young Like Mammalian Mothers

 

 

 

 

ScienceDaily (Nov. 1, 2010) — Few fish are famed for their parenting skills. Most species leave their freshly hatched fry to fend for themselves, but not discus fish. Jonathan Buckley from the University of Plymouth, UK, explains that discus fish young feed on the mucus that their parents secrete over their bodies until they are big enough to forage. 'The parental care that they exhibit is very unusual,' says Buckley. Intrigued by the fish's lifestyle, Buckley's PhD advisor, Katherine Sloman, established a collaboration with Adalberto Val from the Laboratory of Ecophysiology and Molecular Evolution in Manaus, Brazil, and together with Buckley and Richard Maunder set up a colony of breeding discus fish to find out more about their strange behaviour.

 

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029104603.htm

[Moontanman]

I have some real problems with the accuracy of this "research" discus fish were already well known in the aquarium hobby by the early 60's and being bred by a great many people. The fact of the fry feeding on mucus from the sides of the adult fish were well known by then and the commercial breeding of discus in many color varieties and forms was well established in the late 60's and early 70's. The idea that any of this article is news is simply wrong.