Do they do it in the wild, too?
2007-02-26 11:49:46 · 11 answers · asked by Science_geek 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
for the egg layers such as zebra danios, they live in fast flowing water and their eggs carry off by the current so if the parents see the other eggs chances are that the egg are not theirs. if they eat those eggs, they would get rid of some competition to their offspring but in aquarium they can't tell from if the egg are theirs so they would eat them. plus egg is protein and they would take advantage of this food source.
for livebearer such as guppies, they normally won't eat their young. they only eat them if they don't get enough protein or other fish start attacking them. instead of letting other get the good stuff, they snack on their own kids.
there are many fish that take care of their offsprings, such as cichlids, bettas, gourami, pleco.... sometimes they do eat their own offspring but most of the time they don't do so.
2007-02-26 14:41:47 · answer #1 · answered by Will K 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not ALL fish eat their young, for example, some Malawi Cichlids actually display an amazing amount of parental care!
Fish eat their young so it's kinda like"survival of the fittest", as the strongest fry are able to manage to stay NOT eaten. Yes, fish do it in the wild too. Why would they not do it in the wild and start cannibalizing their kids in capitivity for no reason?
2007-02-26 23:17:07 · answer #2 · answered by i like pizza 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they eat young because instinct is to find food, and the fish get tired after giving birth so they want to eat. They do it in the wild too.
2007-02-26 14:24:45 · answer #3 · answered by LightningKnex 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most fish in nature live in large bodies of water. The odds that a random fish is their offspring is very small. Thus most fish will happily eat any fish that fits in their mouths. They are fish not people they don't form bond with their offspring.
2007-02-26 12:05:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Manger, what you said is not necessariloy true.. not all fish eat their young.. for example male arowannas just incubate the eggs in his mouth...
but many many cichlids will eat their fry.. for example turquoise jewel cichlids.. i used to have a mating pair when i was still a novice... i left the parents to tend their eggs but the next day they were gone. i guess the mom ate them.. but its different for different fish.. some moms guard eggs.. some dads
2007-02-26 12:37:35 · answer #5 · answered by brian h 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sure!!!! Beta fish are VERY aggressive. After fertilizing the eggs the male will attempt to attack and kill the female. do away with all the female FISH!! he will safeguard the nest nevertheless. as quickly as they hatch he will attempt to consume the toddlers. Fish are not mammals and don't have sexual family members like human beings.
2016-09-29 23:07:24 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are predators. They will eat their own babies right after giving birth to them. They don't have the intellect to say "hey that's my kid" they just see something wiggling, which means food. They act on instinct.
2007-02-26 11:56:17 · answer #7 · answered by something_fishy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ewwwwwwww i dont know why they do it but i kno they do eat them in the wild iv seen it on animal channel all the time :]
2007-02-26 11:54:57 · answer #8 · answered by im awsome 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm definatly not a pro but i would think it's possible. A lot of animals do, do that so it's very very possible. Hope it helps!
2007-02-26 11:54:58 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because they...taste good?
2007-02-26 12:01:43 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋