Life Cycle
The Asian swamp eel is hermaphroditic. All young are females. As juvenile fish begin to mature, some take on the masculine phenotype. Males have transgendered capabilities, allowing them to replenish female populations when female densities are low. This change from one sex to another can take up to a year.
Spawning can occur throughout the year. Eggs are laid in bubble nests located in shallow waters. These bubble nests float at the water’s surface and are not attached to aquatic vegetation. Females produce up to 1,000 eggs, each, per spawning event. This characteristic is important when considering control of the invasive species. The greater the proportion of females in the population, the greater the amount of reproduction. Thus, it would be best to implement removal of the species at the juvenile stage of life cycle to obtain the largest number of the reproductive population.
Read more about this topic: Monopterus Albus
Famous quotes containing the words life and/or cycle:
“Children became an obsessive theme in Victorian culture at the same time that they were being exploited as never before. As the horrors of life multiplied for some children, the image of childhood was increasingly exalted. Children became the last symbols of purity in a world which was seen as increasingly ugly.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“The lifelong process of caregiving, is the ultimate link between caregivers of all ages. You and I are not just in a phase we will outgrow. This is life—birth, death, and everything in between.... The care continuum is the cycle of life turning full circle in each of our lives. And what we learn when we spoon-feed our babies will echo in our ears as we feed our parents. The point is not to be done. The point is to be ready to do again.”
—Paula C. Lowe (20th century)