Jawfish Breeding?

[Lizard333]

Does anyone know much about the yellowheaded jawfish breeding. I have three in my tank and about 7 days ago the two males, I think, went in the burro and have not been seen since.


I was told by my LFS that they may be holding the females eggs in their mouths, but I can not find any info an what happens when the hold the eggs. Any help at all will be a huge help. Thanks in advance.

Oh, by the way the female is off in a new burro and is doing great, eating like a pig. How long can the other two go without food?? Unless of course the unthinkable happened.

 

[Lizard333]

No one knows anything??????

 

[reefD]

have you seen the males at all? they should be seen with a full mouth at least hiding in the entrance!. if not they can go for a few days without food. the eggs should hatch within a week so if you still dont see them in a week i would worry. they can go without food for a week ..no worries.....if your tank temp is below 78 i would raise it to 80 this aids in faster development of the eggs.

 

[reefD]

why do you think they had eggs? if this tank is new( under a year) the licklyhood of spawning is nearly impossible. fish like to establish a strong territory then it can not change at all for a while to encourage them to spawn. not imppossible in your case but why do you think they breed. you should have seen breeding dances/behavior for weeks before the actual action accures. did you see anything like this? if not your jawfish are not breeding. your just guessing since you havent seen the males. i would consider death before spawning from a dissapearence. sorry to be blunt but this is my honest oppinion.

 

[Lizard333]

Turns out that you were right. I just moved to another city and in the process of moving, I looked under the rock where the fish should have been and sure enough they were gone. I found a Mantis Shrimp in my tank after they turned up missing, he must have been a hitchhiker with my live rock. I figure my clean up crew took care of the bodies. I was really bumbed when I found out they were gone. I even checked my tank parameters every day and only noticed a small ammonia spike, not what to dead fish would do. I only have a 24 gallon tank. Hard lesson learned I guess. Thanks for the input though. Do you have Jawfish yourself? Have they bred before? And by the my tank is around 80 - 81 F.