Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations spawn I.D.

Is it possible to identify spawn by their activity? I have some baby fish that congregate in big masses or balls of fish. They are very small and stay in a tight pack even away from shore. Do all fry behave the same way or can you identify fry by their behavior?

hey james, i can only distinguish the gambusia babies from the "lepomis" babies. last year i noted the gams are always right at the surface. the lepomis fry (and YOY) hang deeper. i had troubles telling BG from RES from GSF at the <1" size though just looking through the water at them.

The LMB spawns I have seen generally stay close to the shore, if you toss a minnow into the mix, the male guarding the spawn can be caught.

My worst pond memory is a mudcat spawn, there were clouds of them 5' in size, multiple spawn clouds appeared at the same time over the surface...took 2 years to eliminate them.

By the time I see the BG fry, they are already hanging around grassy areas, but I have seen them in schools of what looks like thousands in lakes, they are like shiners...the whole school turns are once and causes a "flash".

Bed spawners like lepomis and LMB spawn near shore and that is where the swarm is seen. If it is an offshore swarm it is likely from a scatter spawner like shad or shiners. FH and gams (live bearer) will be shallow like their parents and tilapia will be with adults because they are mouth brooders. Crappie will initially be in deeper water than BG or LMB.

Anyone have photos of baby/small Mozambique Tilapia ? What should I look for to distinguish them from CNBG or GSF babies. I continually trap along shoreline to check on what is currently the most populous.

I have always felt an easily distinguishing characteristic was the dorsal fin length, which extends much farther back on Tilapia than on Lepomids.

Here are Mozambique and Tiger Tilapia. Dorsal fin length is very similar on both and much longer than on BG/RES/GSF/etc.

Tilapia are mouth brooders so they will be near the parent (in and out of its mouth while fry sized). I would be surprised if you got new fry in a trap or net.


http://srac.tamu.edu/tmppdfs/381285-283f...2ea7d4e58b2e712
Reproduction

In all Oreochromis species the male

excavates a nest in the pond bottom

(generally in water shallower than 3

feet) and mates with several females.

After a short mating ritual the

female spawns in the nest (about

two to four eggs per gram of brood

female), the male fertilizes the eggs,

and she then holds and incubates the

eggs in her mouth (buccal cavity)

until they hatch. Fry remain in the

femaleÕs mouth through yolk sac

absorption and often seek refuge in

her mouth for several days after they

begin to feed.