Latz prespawning behavior?

[Maximus]

Hmm this is interesting. I have a bonded pair of c/b Latz from Karen B. in Hawaii and it seems as though they are exhibiting pre-spawning behavior. The female is around a year and half in age and the male is a ittle over a year old. Is this even possible at their age? What tipped me off was that the male has become overly aggressive toward other fish that come near his anemone. He has never been agressive at all toward any fish in the past year or so. Suddenly, within the past couple weeks, I've observed his agressive behavior. In addition, I just observed him cleaning a patch of rock near the Magnifica. Now, I am unsure if I am seeing things, but I am seeing a fuller belly in the female clown. Could this be possible considering their age?

 

[paka]

Hey Sang, I'm seeing something similar in three latz that I have kept from the batch your female came from. I had kept the three latz as backup and I'm glad I did since their parents have not spawned in months. These three live together with some angels and anthias in a 150 gallon tank. Two of the three are similar in size and the third is smaller. In the last few weeks one of the larger latz has been clearing gravel away from one corner of the tank and has become more territorial. The other larger latz is getting quite plump and is in fact fatter than her mother ever was at spawning time. I am surprised at how large they have grown in a year and a half and they do seem large enough to spawn but I don't think mine are really quite ready yet. Although the female is plump and looks like she's hydrating she does none of the normal clownfish prespawning behaviors.
So I wouldn't be surprised if your latz are gearing up. Keep us posted. You might have the first full barred grandchildren!

Karen

 

[Maximus]

Hi Karen! My female doesn't exhibit any pre spawning behaviors that I know of. Most of it is male induced. I am sure that I am seeing things when it comes to her belly but it sure does seem larger than normal. What type of behavior should I be looking out for from the female? It's great to hear from you again!!

 

[Maximus]

I also wanted to add that the female has finally some blue in her upper lip. I hope it fills out and spreads to both lips. Have you noticed any blue coloration around the lip region on any of your offspring?

 

[paka]

In terms of prespawning behavior from the female just look for her to be cleaning the nest site with the male. Sometimes prespawning cleaning can go on for months or even years before an actual spawn. The cleaning behavior will become more intense as they get closer to spawning.

The blue lips are my main attraction to latz and sometimes I think I'm seeing it in the offspring but I just checked before writing this and they do not look blue now. I think in my conditions where my latz are not in reef tanks with anemones and good lighting the blue lips will probably not develop fully. It is illegal for us to import anemones into Hawaii and the only native anemone we have that does well in aquariums is H. malu so I don't keep any with my clowns. I do have one tank with legal cultured Molokai live rock and I was thinking of putting a couple of my latz in there to see if the blue lips will come through.

If any of you have my baby latz showing blue lips I'd love to hear about it or better yet see some photos of those blue lips. My favorite photos are of them snuggling into an anemone and basically any photo that shows me how happy they are in their new homes makes me happy! There have been some really nice photos on previous threads here at RC.

Happy New Year :spin1:

 

[Maximus]

Thanks for the info, Karen. Unfortunately, the blue isn't bright enough to show up in pics. Hopefully, the color will become more intense and show up in pics eventually. To tie you over, here's a pic of the male in his anemone!

 

[paka]

Another great photo!
Thanks for sharing it.