Paedophagia among cichlid fishes of Lake Victoria and Lake Malawi/Nyasa.

Abstract

Paedophages, as defined here, are cichlids which exploit the protective tactics of other cichlids to steal the offspring from them. The different tactics are reviewed here and a new form of paedophagy is described, in which retrieval of free-swimming young is stimulated by the paedophage so that the offspring gather at the parent's mouth, where they are readily caught by the paedophage.