PARENTAL INVESTMENT OF A BIPARENTAL CICHLID FISH, CICHLASOMA-NIGROFASCIATUM, IN RELATION TO BROOD SIZE AND PAST INVESTMENT

Parental investment 'decisions' should consider the value of the current brood relative to the parents' own survival and subsequent reproduction. The influence of brood size and past investment in the existing brood was measured in the convict cichlid, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum. Brood size and past investment were manipulated by reducing and augmenting brood size early and late in the brood cycle. Both factors influence current parental investment; brood size appears to be relatively more important when the brood is augmented, and past ivestment is more important when the brood is reduced. Females consistently invested more than males. © 1990 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.