Jawfish biology?

[TSandM]

Peter snagged a lovely photo of a jawfish with eggs:

It raised questions for us about how LONG the male has to brood the young, and it certainly appears that he cannot eat while he does so. We have Giant Pacific Octopus who don't eat while they brood their young, but they die when the eggs hatch. Is this the case for jawfish as well?

 

[diver 85]

Tell Peter GREAT pic.....

 

[MaxBottomtime]

They spit out the eggs for only enough time to catch a quick bite, then swoop them back up again. The eggs incubate for 7 to 9 days and are then released.

 

[PatW]

They spit out the eggs for only enough time to catch a quick bite, then swoop them back up again. The eggs incubate for 7 to 9 days and are then released.

That is my understanding too. Also, the male should survive the mouth brooding fine. Fish generally will not go into breeding mode unless they are in great condition. Going 2 weeks without food sounds like a long time, but for a fish in great condition, it really is not.

 

[TSandM]

Thanks for the information! We were all wondering.

 

[cgills]

The Yellow headed jawfish in the Caribbean incubation period is more like 5-7 days. Have spent hours observing the males behavior while carrying for the brood. They will often spat the eggs out in the burrow and come out to feed, then go back and retrieve eggs. Observed one, either a newbie, or old pro that didn't care, clean out his burrow with the eggs in his mouth! He would scoop and the rubble a top the eggs, spit the rubble, then aerate the eggs, several times very quickly. What a hoot.. He had his system down pat. Either not knowing better, or figuring a little dust wasn't going to hurt the brood!