https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs ... /jfb.14350
Abstract
The cuckoo catfish and are endemic to Lake Tanganyika and the only known non‐avian vertebrates that exhibit obligate interspecific brood parasitism. Seven maternal mouth‐brooding cichlid fish species are reported natural hosts of the parasitic catfish and share a common reproductive behaviour that the catfish exploits: Cichlid females spawn eggs on the bottom, allowing the catfish female to place her eggs near the cichlid eggs, and the cichlid females collect the catfish eggs by mouth together with their own eggs. However, so far, it has not been reported that the cuckoo catfish exploit different spawning behaviours. The genus consists of five maternal mouth‐brooding species endemic to Lake Tanganyika, most of which spawn and collect eggs in open water. This study reports that the cuckoo catfish also parasitizes the open‐water spawning , although it may not be a regular host.
