Sunfish monogomy

This may seem like an odd question but i had chiclids for a long time and found that they would pair off and ignore all other potential mates, Are sunfish that way as well or is it just any port in a storm for them, as it seems the male of the species does most of the house work and lures his mate when she comes along.

Sunfish don't typically form pair bonds. A male takes and defends a territory and will mate with any receptive female who shows up and stays around long enough.

Sunfish don't typically form pair bonds. A male takes and defends a territory and will mate with any receptive female who shows up and stays around long enough.

The reason for this question is i have some sunfish and a few of them seem to (buddy up) at times, But i never wanted to represent them as a pair or potential pair in case i decide to sell or trade any at some point in time, By the same token when buying fish i usually get 6 to try to get a male and female set, so the male will show off at times, but since i at this point have no breeding aspirations i should ask for only sexed pairs if possible and not end up with a bunch of extra fish

Nope, sunfish aren't monogamous. As has already been stated males will breed with several females and take care of the fry entirely on their own. In fact, after they're done breeding the male will typically chase off the female. In the confined space of an aquarium this can lead to a great deal of harassment from the male, to the point of death. I do have a documentary called "Big Mouth" about the life cycle of the largemouth bass and in it the female stayed around the nest for awhile and even defended it, that is the only example I have of a pair staying together.

Edited by sandtiger, 17 November 2008 - 04:33 PM.

Nope, sunfish aren't monogamous. As has already been stated males will breed with several females and take care of the fry entirely on their own. In fact, after they're done breeding the male will typically chase off the female. In the confined space of an aquarium this can lead to a great deal of harassment from the male, to the point of death. I do have a documentary called "Big Mouth" about the life cycle of the largemouth bass and in it the female stayed around the nest for awhile and even defended it, that is the only example I have of a pair staying together.

I would not have problem saying females use serial mongamy. My female sunfish when given a choice of mates usually depositt all their eggs in a single nest rather than in nest of multiple males. They will mate with another male during the nest breeding cycle which usually more than 9 days away.


Most of my males will after embryos / pro-larvae reach a certain stage adopt a brood tending coloration and court females with much less enthusiasum resulting in females passing them up. During the times males have very young developing offspring, they will operate as horndogs and will mate with multiple females if given a chance.

Some of the black basses such as both largemouth species and the northern spotted bass do have a protracted courship and females maybe involved with post conception care. The other black basses may do something similar.

Thanks for that info all, im now done buying a half dozen fish just to get a pair. Now i just gotta trade off or sell my extras on aquabid.

I saw a documentary on largemouth bass from the show wild america. It also stated that the femal bass has a large role in protecting the outer area of the nest while the male stays in the center of the nest. The footage seemed to collaborate this but it's hard to tell if that's what she was really doing.
Don

I saw a documentary on largemouth bass from the show wild america. It also stated that the femal bass has a large role in protecting the outer area of the nest while the male stays in the center of the nest. The footage seemed to collaborate this but it's hard to tell if that's what she was really doing.
Don

I have seen on multiple occasions the same with largemouth and spotted bass. They have protracted courtship and the female patrolling the deep side perimeter of the males smaller brood rearing territory seems as deterent for many smaller sunfishes that might attempt to move in and take the bass fry. Dad still carries largest load but mother may still improve percentage that survives to independence. Also female may be more effective in dealing with threats posed by conspecifics.

I have also witnessed this behavior in largemouth a couple of times, it is odd to see two fish seemingly guarding the same area. I guess I never really put much thought to it before and what I have seen makes more sense now.