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Rearing Fish Fry, Lake Malawi National Park. This is Lake Malawi in East Africa. It is

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almost as large as Belgium. The lakeside is littered with boulders that have rolled down

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from the steep surrounding mountains. The fish in the shadow of these rocks breed their

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young in a very unusual way. This fish is known as Cichlidae, a dominant species.

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During the breeding season, the male Cichlidae removes sand from the seabed with his mouth.

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He is making a breeding bed for a female. A female Cichlidae enters his nest. Her colour

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is very subdued compared to the vivid male appearance. The female Cichlidae spawns her

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eggs and puts them into her mouth right away. She doesn't actually eat these eggs but hatches

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and raises them inside her mouth. An attack, the mother's mouth seems to be the safest

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place to be. This is a large catfish locally known as Kampango. They are also raising fry

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in their nest within the rocks. The baby fish are now about two centimetres long and protected

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by their parents. A Cichlidae is swimming around them, waiting for a chance to prey

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on the baby Kampangos. A Cichlidae mother is letting her babies out of her mouth. It's

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amazing how they grew up inside her. But this world is full of danger. Parents can never

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rest until their young finally grow up. Back to the Kampango nest, a female Cichlidae is

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being chased away several times but keeps coming back to the nest. Slowly and carefully

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she is releasing her babies from her mouth. Now the babies swim away from their parents

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towards the Kampango parents. Here their babies are safe from other Cichlidae. Kampango can

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also benefit from this. Baby Cichlidae fry divert attention from the Kampango babies.

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The Cichlidae parents are busily chasing enemies away from the mouth of the nest. Here the

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two species can co-exist in harmony. Unique ways of rearing and protecting their young

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have been created in a world where the strong prey on the weak.

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For more information visit www.fema.gov