How do fish mate?

[Clairel]

I was just wondering ) how do they mate? My fish dont seem to stay still for very long lol, once they have mated how long does it take for fry to be born?

Claire x

 

[breezer40]

Males have a sex organ called a gonopodium and females don't. Can I leave the rest to your imagination )

 

[Clairel]

I know that much lmao !!!!!!!!

My point is, how do they DO IT !!

Do they stay still for a few seconds, and have some hanky panky? My fish never stay still

Claire x

 

[Annastasia]

Well, the male just swims up next to the female, and poke poke. ) Then it's done. It happens really fast, so it must be pretty hard to see. I've never seen it either...that's I'm aware of, anyway.

Edit: Once they have mated, it takes about 4-6 weeks for fry to be born.

 

[breezer40]

Ok here is a link that explains the process and as for the gestation period I think its 28 days for guppys.
http/oursimplejoys.com/freshwateraquaria/article1005.html

 

[Clairel]

Well, the male just swims up next to the female, and poke poke. ) Then it's done. It happens really fast, so it must be pretty hard to see. I've never seen it either...that's I'm aware of, anyway.

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ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poke Poke, i love that !! hehe

Right....thanx for the explanation, i wondered how long it took, and if they hide, or carry on swimming etc...

Claire x

 

[breezer40]

Well, the male just swims up next to the female, and poke poke. ) Then it's done. It happens really fast, so it must be pretty hard to see. I've never seen it either...that's I'm aware of, anyway.

Edit: Once they have mated, it takes about 4-6 weeks for fry to be born.

[snapback]924612[/snapback]​

 

[Annastasia]

It's the first thing that came to mind that seemed appropriate!

 

[Clairel]

Thanx for the link, excellent reading

C x

 

[dwarfgourami]

I know what you mean Claire; it's obvious from the results that they're at it like rabbits, yet you never seem to SEE anything much.

Not like my corys who spent 4 HOURS yesterday on foreplay, mating, affectionate nuzzling- the full works! They are spending today in a daze of sexual exhaustion.

 

[nmonks]

Clairel,

Yes, they mate very quickly. They don't really have a lot of choice... if they stayed together for something a little more intimate, they'd be targets for any predator that swam by. But there are other, evolutionary, pressures at work as well.

Since he plays no role in the protection of the fry, the female only values the male on his apparent genetic "fitness". In the case of guppies, this is known to be by the brightness and size of the tail. In short, a big, bright tail attracts predators and makes it difficult to swim. Any male that reaches sexual maturity with such an impediment must be genetically "fit", so the female looks for males with large, bright tails. Once the female has mated, she doesn't care what happens to him next (or, for that matter, the fact that her sons are likely to be so encumbered as well). The male may even attract a predator that would eat her, so she's anxious to get away as quickly as possible. By storing sperm, she can even produce a succession of broods without the risky business of seeking out a mate.

The male of course only wants to fertilise as many females as he can before he gets eaten. So long drawn out matings are selected against by evolution in favour of quick matings. In wild populations of guppies, males have much shorter lifespans than females, so he needs to mate often and quickly. Females are longer lived so can afford to be more picky. Thus, females mate selectively, and males mate with anything (even other species, e.g. mollies).

Only in fish where both sexes need to invest time in raising the eggs or fry does mating (or spawning at least) take longer. Cichlids are the classic example. There may be days or weeks of courtship prior to actual spawning (ritual dances, digging, fighting, and so on). Both sexes are testing the quality of their prospective mates. They may spawn repeatedly until actually caring for a batch of eggs.

Certainly in other animals, the females may engage in additional strategies to keep the males around. Some female birds deliberately starve themselves so that the male will not "feel" that he can run off and leave his offspring to the female alone. I have no idea if fish do things like this, but it wouldn't surprise me... cichlids seem to do _everything_.

There are, of course, obvious parallels with human behaviour in all these situations.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Clairel]

I know what you mean Claire; it's obvious from the results that they're at it like rabbits, yet you never seem to SEE anything much.

Not like my corys who spent 4 HOURS yesterday on foreplay, mating, affectionate nuzzling- the full works! They are spending today in a daze of sexual exhaustion.

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Wow

I have bronze corys, they do foreplay?? Good for them...wohooooooooo...hehe....

Claire x

 

[Clairel]

Clairel,

Yes, they mate very quickly. They don't really have a lot of choice... if they stayed together for something a little more intimate, they'd be targets for any predator that swam by. But there are other, evolutionary, pressures at work as well.

Since he plays no role in the protection of the fry, the female only values the male on his apparent genetic "fitness". In the case of guppies, this is known to be by the brightness and size of the tail. In short, a big, bright tail attracts predators and makes it difficult to swim. Any male that reaches sexual maturity with such an impediment must be genetically "fit", so the female looks for males with large, bright tails. Once the female has mated, she doesn't care what happens to him next (or, for that matter, the fact that her sons are likely to be so encumbered as well). The male may even attract a predator that would eat her, so she's anxious to get away as quickly as possible. By storing sperm, she can even produce a succession of broods without the risky business of seeking out a mate.

The male of course only wants to fertilise as many females as he can before he gets eaten. So long drawn out matings are selected against by evolution in favour of quick matings. In wild populations of guppies, males have much shorter lifespans than females, so he needs to mate often and quickly. Females are longer lived so can afford to be more picky. Thus, females mate selectively, and males mate with anything (even other species, e.g. mollies).

Only in fish where both sexes need to invest time in raising the eggs or fry does mating (or spawning at least) take longer. Cichlids are the classic example. There may be days or weeks of courtship prior to actual spawning (ritual dances, digging, fighting, and so on). Both sexes are testing the quality of their prospective mates. They may spawn repeatedly until actually caring for a batch of eggs.

Certainly in other animals, the females may engage in additional strategies to keep the males around. Some female birds deliberately starve themselves so that the male will not "feel" that he can run off and leave his offspring to the female alone. I have no idea if fish do things like this, but it wouldn't surprise me... cichlids seem to do _everything_.

There are, of course, obvious parallels with human behaviour in all these situations.

Cheers,

Neale

[snapback]924631[/snapback]​

Wow, thanx, that was very interesting

C x

 

[dwarfgourami]

Fascinating stuff, though it doesn't expain the corys.

They can spend hours on mating - and then turn round and eat all their eggs. They certainly don't guard their fry like cichlids. Must have something to do with the egglaying itself, instead: that a small number of eggs (for whatever evolutionary reason) needs to be produced and fertilised again and again. I would have thought they would be at some risk from predators as they seem so totally absorbed in the mating process; don't know how they manage to have safe sex. Perhaps there is little advantage from survival point of view of the female making a quick getaway as she has to laboriously deposit the eggs.

Sorry, totally getting off topic here.

Clairel,

Yes, they mate very quickly. They don't really have a lot of choice... if they stayed together for something a little more intimate, they'd be targets for any predator that swam by. But there are other, evolutionary, pressures at work as well.

Since he plays no role in the protection of the fry, the female only values the male on his apparent genetic "fitness". In the case of guppies, this is known to be by the brightness and size of the tail. In short, a big, bright tail attracts predators and makes it difficult to swim. Any male that reaches sexual maturity with such an impediment must be genetically "fit", so the female looks for males with large, bright tails. Once the female has mated, she doesn't care what happens to him next (or, for that matter, the fact that her sons are likely to be so encumbered as well). The male may even attract a predator that would eat her, so she's anxious to get away as quickly as possible. By storing sperm, she can even produce a succession of broods without the risky business of seeking out a mate.

The male of course only wants to fertilise as many females as he can before he gets eaten. So long drawn out matings are selected against by evolution in favour of quick matings. In wild populations of guppies, males have much shorter lifespans than females, so he needs to mate often and quickly. Females are longer lived so can afford to be more picky. Thus, females mate selectively, and males mate with anything (even other species, e.g. mollies).

Only in fish where both sexes need to invest time in raising the eggs or fry does mating (or spawning at least) take longer. Cichlids are the classic example. There may be days or weeks of courtship prior to actual spawning (ritual dances, digging, fighting, and so on). Both sexes are testing the quality of their prospective mates. They may spawn repeatedly until actually caring for a batch of eggs.

Certainly in other animals, the females may engage in additional strategies to keep the males around. Some female birds deliberately starve themselves so that the male will not "feel" that he can run off and leave his offspring to the female alone. I have no idea if fish do things like this, but it wouldn't surprise me... cichlids seem to do _everything_.

There are, of course, obvious parallels with human behaviour in all these situations.

Cheers,

Neale

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[Ddraig Goch]

) They are 'attached' (for want of a better word) for about a second, only long enough to pass across the sperm packet. If you watch them for long enough I'm sure you will see them in the act, although you may decide not to as it could make you feel a little embarrassed!!! ) )