Cichlids treat their own offspring less strictly
Published: Thursday, Jul 11th 2024, 12:00
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Cichlids practise nepotism. If work is not done, the fish are more lenient with their relatives than with unrelated group members. This was shown by researchers from the University of Bern in an experiment.
African cichlids live in groups. They defend their territory together against competitors and threatening predators, they dig caves together in order to have a good shelter and share the care of the fry among themselves.
Lazy group members punish the fish with physical attacks. If this does not help, those who refuse to work are expelled from the group, which drastically reduces their chances of survival.
Own descendants enjoy leniency
As behavioral biologists led by Michael Taborsky from the University of Bern have now discovered, the cichlids punish their own offspring less severely if they do not help. The results were published in the current issue of the scientific journal "iScience".
The researchers conducted their experiment at the Hasli ethological research station at the University of Bern. To make the helper fish appear lazy, they kept them away from the fry. In other words, they prevented them from carrying out their work tasks properly.
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