video: A coordinated nest defense by a pair of Convict cichlids (Amatitlania siquia), a monogamous tropical fish species. In natural environment, the eggs and young are highly vulnerable to predation from predators or cichlid fish (cannibalism). Both parents perform intensive coordinated defense of the nest entrance in order to repel intruders that are sometimes much larger than themselves. The video was recorded in Lake Xiloa, Nicaragua. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the March 4, 2016, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by C. Laubu at CNRS in Dijon, France, and colleagues was titled, 'Mismatched partners that achieve postpairing behavioral similarity improve their reproductive success.' view more
Credit: F.-X. Dechaume-Moncharmont and C. Laubu