what does it mean when fish lock their mouth together african chilids?

Answer 1

When African Cichlids lock their mouths together (other fish do it too, like pink kissing gouramis and angelfish, for example) it means they are sparring with each other, fighting for territory or dominance (between two males), or to express spawning behaviour (between male and female).
It is a perfectly normal behaviour, but if it gets out of hand and one fish is getting picked on, you may have to look into upgrading to a larger tank or, in the meantime, moving everything around in the tank to "erase" their territories.

Edit: The only times I have seen it between a male and a female was with angelfish and kissing gouramis. I don't know whether the subsequent spawning was related or merely incidental ;)

Answer 2

I cannot remember ever seeing a male and female liplock. Many times have I seen 2 males(fighting for territory,dominance or a female), and 2 females liplock. I actually have 2 female Ngara that do this quite a bit, not sure why? Definatly not tank size or breeding issues. Sometimes I think fish just dont like each other. Definatly happens with males more. Just another part of owning aggressive fish.

Answer 3

That is a breeding / mating behaviour in many species. With any luck you may have eggs soon! Do a web search on breeding whatever species you have to be sure it applies to your fish and that you and your tank are ready.

Best of luck!

EDIT: I should have been more clear that I meant most likely between males for breeding rights with a female. Sorry. My answer assumed you have a small colony of several fish and that a ready female was in the tank with them.

Answer 4

Its just part of what makes them fun pet fish... They're just sparring for dominance or mating rights. Its perfectly normal unless they escalate events to attacking each other regularly.

Dominance: They're just trying to sort out who is boss.

Mating Rights: They're trying to establish that they're a suitable mate.

Most of the time its m:m or f:f... in africans its not so common for m:f except maybe directly before they lay eggs. In south american's its very common for m:f & its actually part of their mating ritual.