Steve,
First, congratulations for your work with Banggais and the manual.
I am pointing out a few inaccuracies (with the only aim of to strength your work, not to criticized it) so that most people interested in Banggais, and apogonids in general, would fully benefit from your work.
Taxonomy: currently there are two species of Pterapogon i.e.: P. kauderni (the Banggai) and P. mirifica, an endemic species from Western Australia.
Pterapogon kauderni was first described in 1933 (by Koumans), not 1920 (it was first collected in 1920, by Kaudern).
Ecology
Although it has been reported (as you correctly cited) that mating pairs in the wild move away several meters from the groups and defend territories, this is not quite the case.
First, that cited work has serious methodological flaws and some hard to believe observations. My own field observations (already 3 expeditions to the Banggais Islands) differ significantly. The formation of mating pairs in the wild occurs in both isolation from the groups, and within the overall group area (with the pair not much more separated from the groups than about 50cm). Overall, it depends on the density of individuals (Banggais) in a particular habitat. In addition, brooding males are very commonly found in the center of the groups, like seeking protection.
Reproduction:
The (chorionic) filaments that keep the egg-clutch together last almost until hatching time, but it does not necessarily help to keep the eggs in the mouth. Actually, it would probably be easier for the male to rotate the eggs inside its mouth, for cleaning and oxygenation purposes, if the eggs were loose (as it happens in other fishes, including Pterapogon mirifica).
The following can be considered just a technicality. I am not being picky here; I just would like to clarify some terminology so fish hobbyists may find this helpful when reading some technical literature. I think that the single most important contribution I did regarding the study of this species was the finding of its unique mode of reproduction, i.e., direct development, which entitles the elimination of the larval period. Therefore P. kauderni lacks larval period. The embryos hatch in a stage called eleutheroembryos (or free-embryos) and complete their development inside the male mouth. At the moment of release, they are already juveniles. So, at difference with most marine teleost, Pterapogon kauderni lacks a planktonic dispersal stage (larva), and therefore, it lacks the typical metamorphosis that any organism with larva needs to go through to become juveniles.
Regarding above discussion about stripping males: in my opinion it will make sense if you have considerable more females than males. Having the males brooding for just a week or so, it will liberate them and after some feeding, the same males could be used for at least one more spawn during the same month. However, some males may be reluctant to mate with some females, so if you retrieve the eggs from a male that mated with female A, the male not always will mate with female B ( which by the way, needs to be ready to mate, i.e., sexually mature). Females will not produce more spawns, just because they are joined with new males after spawning. Females kept under standard conditions will need an average of at least 25 days to mature a new batch of eggs.
best regards
Alejandro Vagelli
But I can explain the advantages of stripping the eggs.
