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Spotted the male on top of a layer of wriggling white "eggs with tails"; the babies are hatching



This species wasn't on my "have been bred by me" list, now it is; it took 3 pairs in all to find a matching one, as they're fiercely territorial with each other.

those eggs are spread out on the floor of the cave and sticky (they don't move when the make turns around right on top of them), and a bit larger than Corydoras eggs, but not as big as Ancistrus eggs.

Also when disturbed by the penlight the male blocks the cave entrance but does NOT take them in his mouth......wich he should if he was a mouthbreeder.
the lack of this trigger (protecting eggs or fry in the mouth is genuine mouthbreeder-behaviour), and the fact that the eggs are sticky both prooves that reports about mouthbreeding Lophiobagrus are the result of a wrong interpretation.
I have bred perhaps 30 nests of Lophiobagrus brevispinis and seen eggs stuck in caves many times, used different pairs and all, and not a single time have I seen that eggs or fry where taken in the mouth.
I DO know how that looks like from breeding Phyllonemus.
now this species proves this; the eggs aren't taken in, nor did I find a single report from hobbyists breeding this cat, or from Lophiobagrus caught in the wild with their eggs or fry in the mouth.

There IS a difference from L brevispinis but it might be coincidence: L brevispinis glues the eggs on the vertical wall of the cave, while L cyclurus clears the floor and glues them on. the male "sits" on them, almost like a Loricariid.

funny detail is that the female has left the cave and resides nearby in another one for about 4-5 days now; they where stuck in there for over a week.

I think it's similar like L brevispinis, where the absence of enemies gives the female the oppertunity to flee and feed; while in the wild or in a tank with cichlids they stay together to defend the brood against predators.

the number of eggs is hard to see -the male's very good at blocking the light from my penlight- but if it's more than 25 I'll be surprised.

Wow! I can't wait to see the pics ... congrats.

I have spotted the first fry today!

finally dad didn't block the beam, so I could get a glimpse of a lot of activity in the back of the cave.

the young have large yellow yolksacs, are brownish in color and fairly large, larger than newborn Phyllonemus (wild guess) or L brevispinis (definitely!).
I didn't expect this; I expected colorless/off-white yolksacs and eggs, because that's like it's close relative L brevispinis. I have never seen Phyllonemus-eggs clearly (only through the skin of the throat of the parents) the color that shines through is yellowish; but I do know the yolksacs of that species are yellow (as pictured in the catelog).

now this species, despite not being a mouthbreeder has similar yolksacs. and large fry (hence quite large eggs I think)

they were very active, wriggling and moving around; unfortunately after 20 seconds or so pop's patience ran out and he blocked the entrance again

Update:

that first batch was eaten in the end, because I decided to let "nature run it's course".
the parents -like many bi-parental fish- need practice to get it straight.

now the male is watching again over a big glob of extremely sticky milky-white eggs, wich are glued to the floor of the cave.
lucky me, because much easier to view than the back of that cave .
they're very sticky; several grains of sand and gravel are stuck to them, and stay stuck, despite him fanning the eggs and moving right on top of them. the eggs aren't in a layer but a pile , something new here!

This time, once the fry is moving, I'll rmove them though; I want to raise at least 1 spawn, see what happens.

unfortunately my Canon G2 is beyond repair...deep within where those tiny pins should fit in the card, stuff is broken
and the repaircosts are as big as buying another cam; so no new pics for some time; my budget is limited and this summer I plan to go SCUBA diving in the Asian tropics, wich overrules getting a new camera.

Scuba vacation would take precedence over a camera for me also ... man, it sounds like fun.

I've never seen either species of Lophiobagrus that you've had spawn for sale anywhere in the US. Maybe they look too much like miniture bullheads for there to be much interest here, unfortunately.

Just as an aside, my aulonocara held eggs for the first time but also swallowed the eggs after a week ... but she's still young and needs practice.