In the marine world, birth and parenting take on different forms. For some fishes, fathers are the ones to carry their eggs to term. While others lay tens of thousands of eggs at once, making the seabed a nest. Some even keep their young in their mouth for protection. Here is a list of some fishes and how they care and protect their offspring before they were giving birth to.
A female Whale shark was found to have 300 embryos inside her at one time. The female whale shark may have the ability to store sperm for later fertilization. Female whale sharks give birth to live young about 40 to 60 cm long.
Whale shark image
Threadfin trevallies, like many pelagic fish, spawn by releasing a large number of eggs into the water.
Pelagic fish can be categorized as coastal and oceanic fish, based on the depth of the water they inhabit. Coastal pelagic fish inhabit sunlit waters up to about 655 feet deep, typically above the continental shelf.
Threadfin Trevally image
Triggerfish are known to prepare seafloor nests that will house tens of thousands of eggs at one time. Be careful around the nests because the Triggerfish can be very protective and would charge or bite intruders.
Queen triggerfish image
Some corals release eggs into the water during mass spawning events, once (sometimes twice) a year. Corals rely on a number of cues, such as temperature, lunar and daily cycles, to ensure male and female gametes meet.
Coral spawning image
A deep-sea Octopus has broken all previous records, guarding her eggs for over four years. The female Octopus dies when the eggs hatch because she protects her eggs until the end.
Giant Pacific Octopus image
Young Nurse sharks develop inside an egg case within the mother’s ovary. Since there is no placenta in the mother nurse shark’s ovary, the pups feed on the egg’s yolk. They also eat any unfertilized eggs and sometimes each other.
Tawny nurse shark image
African cichlids protect their eggs by holding them in their mouth, they are known as “mouthbrooders”. Even after the eggs hatch, the mother still keeps the young in her mouth for protection.
Venustus cichlid image
Male Damselfish are protective and guard eggs until they hatch. He cares for the eggs by fanning water across them with his fins and even eating dead eggs to prevent the growth of fungus and bacteria. The eggs hatch in seven days.
Golden Damselfish image
