Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: Feb 26, 2010

Brood Parasitism of a Bagrid Catfish (Bagrus meridionalis) by a Clariid Catfish (Bathyclarias nyasensis) in Lake Malaŵi, Africa

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Page Range: 71 – 74
DOI: 10.1643/CE-09-087
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Abstract

Bagrus meridionalis (Bagridae; locally called Kampango) is a large substrate-spawning catfish endemic to Lake Malaŵi that exhibits bi-parental care and spawns primarily in the wet season from January to March. The female feeds her young trophic (unfertilized) eggs; the male orally collects offsite benthic organisms, which he brings back to feed the brood. While doing underwater videography in the lake, we observed evidence for brood parasitism of four Kampango nests by the most common clariid catfish in Lake Malaŵi, the endemic Bathyclarias nyasensis (locally called Bombe). Parasitized Kampango nests held Bombe young almost exclusively, and these were protected by Kampango adults until they exceeded 100 mm SL. We found that female and male Kampango fed the Bombe juveniles with trophic eggs and macroinvertebrates, respectively, as they do their own young. These observations represent a sophisticated example of cuckoo behavior in fishes.

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Copyright: 2010 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Fig. 1
Fig. 1

Bathyclarias nyasensis young congregating around the vent of female Bagrus meridionalis, presumably feeding on trophic eggs (B); Bathyclarias nyasensis young congregating around gills of male B. meridionalis, presumably feeding on macroinvertebrates brought back to the nest.


Contributor Notes

Associate Editor: J. W. Snodgrass.

School of Forest Resources, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802; E-mail: vc5@psu.edu. Send reprint requests to this address.
Aquatic Research & Communication, LLC, 1759 NW 20th Street, Homestead, Florida 33034.
Received: Apr 29, 2009
Accepted: Oct 19, 2009