Anyone have photos/video of a gambusia about to give birth?

Hi,

I'm trying my best to raise some gambusia as feeders. See my post about it at http://forum.nanfa.o...?showtopic=4229 .

I never seem to get any fry -- my suspicion is that they are giving birth, but the fry get eaten instantly. I'm going to try using livebearer breeding traps, but don't know exactly how pregnant gambusia should look just before they're going to drop -- or if there are behavioral clues I should be looking for. I'm pretty sure my fish are quite pregnant, but just not sure if they are supposed to actually get bigger before they give birth. See my photos at http://forum.nanfa.o...amp;#entry33063.

Does anyone have any photos of gambusia *just about* to give birth, or maybe even giving birth? I really want to see exactly how big they get, so I have something to compare to. Or... maybe photos of guppies, if you've raised them? They're pretty similar, right?

Thanks. I'll keep my discussion about actually breeding them in the livebearers forum, but wanted to try to cast a wider net in looking for photos.

Cheers, Jase

Or... maybe photos of guppies, if you've raised them? They're pretty similar, right?

Well, I found a video of a guppy giving birth -- pretty cool, actually:

I'd still love any advice about how to tell when my gambusia are about to give birth. They look *really* pregnant (and have for *months*) but I've still never seen one actually drop.

I'd still love any advice about how to tell when my gambusia are about to give birth. They look *really* pregnant (and have for *months*) but I've still never seen one actually drop.

You probably should separate one female into a breeding trap or something if you really want to witness the event. 30 days should just about do it.

You probably should separate one female into a breeding trap or something if you really want to witness the event. 30 days should just about do it.

I actually did that last Thursday (3/13/08). She looked to me like she was just about to pop at that point. No babies yet. Basically I have about 8-10 females looking *really* pregnant all the time, but I never seem to get babies. Two females that I separated out about a month ago looked really pregnant when I separated them, and still look really pregnant now. I just don't get it.

Just before birth, you may be able to see eyes of the embryos. From what I have seen of Gambusia in ponds, likely birthing females break off from shoals and move into extremely vegetated areas or extremely shollow water. Probably to reduce cannibalism.

Birthing may also be a nocturnal event.

crappy old photo...
 Holbrookibirth.jpg   60.9KB   6 downloads

This is a good photo of one about to drop..
 HolbrookiFemaleweb.jpg   32.57KB   9 downloads

Not sure how well this will show but this is a video Of the Above fish giving birth. It also shows the technique I use to save the fry. Basically. I angle a cut piece of light diffuser in a Five gallon tank in a manner that allows little surface area to the mother fish, but plenty of room for the fry to escape to the surface and then into a mass of floating spawning mops on the other side. This works very well for these fish.
 MOV00306.MPG   1.3MB   30 downloads

This is a good photo of one about to drop..
 HolbrookiFemaleweb.jpg   32.57KB   9 downloads

Thanks. I guess mine at http://forum.nanfa.o...amp;#entry33063 might not look *quite* that large -- but this is the biggest I've ever seen them get, after 8 months or so of looking constantly pregnant.

In the method you show, the plastic comes to just below the surface? Allowing fry to swim over easily, but not the mother? I take it pregnant females aren't jumpers, eh?

I don't think that was showing it well so I dug up these old pics...
 Gambusia_BT.jpg   55.99KB   4 downloads
 Killiebank.sized.jpg   60.24KB   2 downloads

I however altered this slightly to allow a bit more room for the Female by moving the middle panel more toward the center of the tank.

Edit: and this was the 2.5 gallon version not the 5 gallon. Idea is the same though. Fry go toward the bottom or the top and the Mother fish is in the middle section.

I don't think that was showing it well so I dug up these old pics...

Thanks Richard, that's very helpful. So the mesh is large enough for fry to go through, but small enough to hold the female in, eh? Would the fry drop through the bottom first, then swim to the top? Videos I've seen of guppies giving birth show the fry dropping quickly when they come out, but then swimming up.

Were you raising Gambusia to feed to gars, or something else? -Jase

Thanks Richard, that's very helpful. So the mesh is large enough for fry to go through, but small enough to hold the female in, eh? Would the fry drop through the bottom first, then swim to the top? Videos I've seen of guppies giving birth show the fry dropping quickly when they come out, but then swimming up.

Were you raising Gambusia to feed to gars, or something else? -Jase

Gambusia fry normally go directly to the surface toward cover immediately on birth. The quarter inch standard light diffuser panel would keep the mother fish at bay. Guppies are bad analogues for these fish.. Do not relate them...Gambusia are very different from guppies in just about all circumstances. Nothing about them is similar except for being livebearing.. behavior is very different in both fry and adults.

I raise Gambusia as I'm very much interested in Gambusia. I actually like them a lot. I do not feed them to anything really (some surplus do occasionally become food for other fish but not normally)... I have several populations from various watersheds both native and exotic that I have kept for years. Different populations and species of them just interest me. Gambusia are actually really cool fish...Very underrated if you ask me...I really think some need more attention than they are given in the hobby.

Gambusia fry normally go directly to the surface toward cover immediately on birth. The quarter inch standard light diffuser panel would keep the mother fish at bay. Guppies are bad analogues for these fish.. Do not relate them...Gambusia are very different from guppies in just about all circumstances. Nothing about them is similar except for being livebearing.. behavior is very different in both fry and adults.

Ok, thanks. The extremely similar appearance led me to assume they were similar in other aspects. It's a heck of a lot easier to find info online about breeding guppies than breeding gambusia.

I raise Gambusia as I'm very much interested in Gambusia. I actually like them a lot. I do not feed them to anything really (some surplus do occasionally become food for other fish but not normally)... I have several populations from various watersheds both native and exotic that I have kept for years. Different populations and species of them just interest me. Gambusia are actually really cool fish...Very underrated if you ask me...I really think some need more attention than they are given in the hobby.

I agree, they're pretty cool little fish. Not much for color, although some of the males get some nice patterns of black spots on their fins. I do like the fact that they're very hardy, very active, and use all levels of the aquarium. People are always commenting that they destroy other fish in the aquarium (including other gambusia), but I've had 30 together in a tank for months, and haven't seen any evidence of fin nipping -- either on each other, or on the few small bluegill that were in with them. I'm trying to raise them as feeders because I thought they'd be easy -- not because I consider them a trash fish.