I was sitting by the aquarium at my Doctor's office watching the fish. How do fish mate?

[debm55]

[10 Turtle Day]

1. Not an expert by any means...

But from all the nature shows I’ve watched, generally the female lays her eggs on the floor of the water body and then the male excretes sperm over the eggs to fertilize them. With mammals such as whales, however, the male and female actually physically copulate, then after a gestation period, the female gives birth to a live calf.

[debm55]

4. Thank you very much, 10 Turtle Day. That is very interesting.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. There are variations, of course. Like mouth-breeders and pouch-breeders (seahorses).

And then there's the cast-it-all-into-the-sea approach, where tight gatherings of males and females dump all their gametes in the water at once, not much different from pine trees. There are times and places along the seacoast where the waves are frothy with fish spooge after such spawnings, usually timed to the phases of the moon.

Different environments, different adaptations, different "strategies".

[DBoon]

10. you mean like grunion?

[eppur_se_muova]

14. No, they bury their eggs in the sand, so not quite as messy. Herring are known to have huge seasonal coastal spawnings.

I don't know what other fish do, but herring form very large schools, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Sheer force of numbers -- what programmers call the "Mongolian hordes" approach (ironically, not actually the devastating tactic the Mongols usually used. They preferred to flee into a pre-set ambush by concealed reinforcements, then turn and finish off their pursuers).

Google "satellite imagery of herring milt" to get some idea of the scale involved.

[debm55]

27. Thank you , very much for your great and informative post.

[Niagara]

2. There's live bearers and others that lay eggs

Swordtails and Black Molly's are live bearers.


Siamese Fighting fish lay eggs. This an extremely elaborate "dance" and process.

[debm55]

6. That is very interesting. Then they have male and female parts? Thank you very much for answering the my question.

[Niagara]

15. Yes, they have male and female anatomy. And you're very much welcome, Debbie

whenever anyone talks about aquariums, I just assume they're talking a fresh water fish because that's what I had for many years.


There's salt water aquariums as well but I know nothing about salt water fish or aquariums.




I had success breeding Black Molly's. But because they're live bearers, the aquarium keeper needs to remove the babies ASAP because all and any adult fish will mistake the newborns for a meal.

And here's the elaborate dance of the Siamese Fighting Fish. I never had any success with breeding them.

[surrealAmerican]

20. Bettas and gouramis are particularly interesting.

They build floating nests out of bubbles, and the male squeezes the female to get her eggs into the nest.

[Niagara]

34. Interesting. I know nothing about gouramis either

[debm55]

28. Absolutely beautiful. Thank you for your personal information. Niagara

[Niagara]

35. You're so welcome, Debbles

[MiHale]

3. Starts with a hot date...if it all goes swimmingly...

The female will deposit her eggs somewhere on the gravel…in real water…like a lake…the fish may …depending on species fan out a shallow depression in the sand with her fins…then the male will swim over the eggs and deposit the sperm…hopefully the eggs meet the sperm and little fishies are created. The depression keeps the sperm more localized so currents have a harder time washing it away.

Not real romantic from our perspective.

[debm55]

7. Thank you very much for sharing. I have never heard of that before.

[sdfernando]

8. well, they have to get exicted first.

a good dose of fish porn might help???

[debm55]

9. Oh , you! Thanks sdfernando.

[Onthefly]

11. Fish don't care if their mortgage is underwater.

[debm55]

12. HAHAHAHAHAH Onthefly.

[WestMichRad]

13. Some of the "facts" alleged in this thread

… sound pretty fishy to me.

[debm55]

30. I believe them. the posters have experience with fish. I am happy they answered the question for me and provide other

facts.

[mike_c]

16. it depends

Some fish practice internal fertilization (sharks, for instance) while others fertilize eggs externally. In the latter case, females lay eggs and then males release semen into the water over them. Some fish also routinely reproduce parthenogenetically (without mating), and others change sexes sometime during their life cycles, so they play both sides of the mating game during their lives.

[debm55]

31. That is so interesting. Are you a Marine Biologist?

[mike_c]

40. no, I'm a retired entomologist and ecologist...

...but I taught general zoology for 20 years. Glad I'm not teaching any longer!

[Goonch]

17. ;-{)....

[debm55]

26. What beautiful colors. Thank you for sharing. Goonch.

[frogstar0]

18. By putting the king into check wher he cannot excape......

[True Dough]

22. I can tell

that you just needed to get that joke off your chess!

[debm55]

25. Thank you.

[Phentex]

19. Their personal life is none of our business!

Privacy please!

[debm55]

24. It was just a thought to ponder, Phentex. I got some excellent answers here.

[True Dough]

21. You'd be fun

to take to the zoo, deb!

[debm55]

23. Thank you very much, True Dough. Do you want to go with me?

[True Dough]

29. Is this some sort of plot

to lock me in a cage with a silverback gorilla and throw away the key?

[debm55]

32. No. Not at all.

[Niagara]

33. Why can't we all go to the zoo together?

We could make a DU field trip out of it.

[debm55]

36. Yes, that would be nice,

[Niagara]

38. I'm serious. We need to get out there and

Start living a bit

[True Dough]

37. We know you wouldn't stick with us for long, Niagara

You'd be bonded with the tigers in no time!

[Niagara]

39. Wow. You know me so well, True

I promise I won't sneak a tiger on the field trip bus!

[malthaussen]

41. Varies by species. There are many variations.

Note that "mating" is not necessary for reproduction.

-- Mal