robertprice
February 28th, 2014, 12:51 PM
Fish ethologists have recently included retribution as an emotion expressed by some cichlids and other intelligent fish. Recently, I had a chance to observe such a case as demonstrated by my female Gold Fader Flowerhorn. Last year, she and the male could not decide on where to put their nest, so after much work, he finally laid her eggs in a spot he couldn't reach. Since then, they had been cool towards each other, but at beginning of February, the female made some small dancing overtures toward the male, who rebuffed her a few times and chased her into her cave where he couldn't fit. She is about half his size, but has a much sharper beak. The next night, she bit his dorsal fin and gave him a fat lip. Now they have a divider in their tank, but she continues to try to bite him through the divider, and spits pebbles at him. The male reovered, and now they face off every day like 2 adult males.