Today In The Fishroom~8/02/11 P. Managuense Photo Series

Greetings fish folk. Mike was kind enough to invite me to the forum. I ran into Mike at the convention where we talked about the photo that I entered into the contest...and the picture he took home. The photo is one of a set of three in a series. During the breeding process the pair will posture back and forth in what I am sure is a set series of moods and behaviors. Over the years they have bred many times and I have come to recognize various behavior and understand about when it will happen.

The male





The female...a little ticked at the intrusion.



Most often it starts with mouthing and chasing...each fish taking turns playing the aggressor...a lot of posturing and lip locking







They selected a nice flat stone for breeding...field stone from our farm...nice stuff.



Flashing the female...or maybe that was dodging a side strike.



Him chasing her...



Her chasing him...



And so it goes...

Here's the photo that won the contest:



Just after all of the posturing...and just before the fish actually breed, the female will allow her self to be more or less pushed around in the tank. The photo above started with this picture:



Then this...



...and ended up in what can only be described as a ballet move.

Absolutely fabulous !!

Just love the blue in those monsters!

Great series and awesome photos!

You sir, are a true artist. Amazing documentation of the spawning process. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks folks. These might be some of the last photos of this particular pair. I sold them to a friend last week. Had an opportunity to pick up another managuense variant that I wanted to photograph.

Wow, that is an amazing series of photos ! That jag male is a real stunner.

Amazing!!! Beautiful fishies, amazing photo's, and capturing some of natures greatest moments... hard to top that.

Gorgeous fish & excellent photos !!!