Parental Care
Like some other fish species, Scissortail Sergeant males are in charge of parental care. Males are polygamous and will collect eggs from up to 12 females while females spawn with a male and then abandon their eggs. Male parental care is more common than female or biparental care in fish because territorial males are able to guard several clutches of eggs while simultaneously attracting new mates.
Male Scissortail Sergeant fish undergo brood cycling, in which they alternate between a mating phase and a parental phase. During the mating phase, males become gold in color and put on displays to attract egg-laying females. After two to three days in the mating phase, male Scissortail Sergeants will lose their gold color and transition into a four to five day parental phase. During the parental phase, males guard their eggs until they hatch. Filial cannibalism occurs during the parental phase.
Read more about this topic: Scissortail Sergeant, Behavior
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