The angelfish suddenly became very alert and then sprang into action as it attacked the hand that had strayed too close to its brood of babies, each hanging by a short thread from an aquatic plant leaf. The parent, not quite as large as a fifty cent piece was courageously defending its young from what it perceived as a threat.

Amazingly this type of behavior is not rare among the more than 1300 identified species of fish that make up the family Cichlidae; Commonly known as Cichlids, pronounced sick lids. In fact every species of the family Cichlidae exhibits some form of brood care of both eggs and larvae, and some even extend to taking care of the free swimming young for up to a couple of weeks.

The methods of caring for eggs and young by various species of cichlids falls into three different types of care. They are:

· Substrate or open brooders: These cichlids will lay their eggs in the open, sometimes in a little depression in gravel, or as the familiar angelfish on the leaf of a plant or other vertical surface.

· Cave brooders: These cichlids find a cave or indentation and lay and brood their eggs in these hidden locations.

Mouth brooders: Perhaps the most amazing of all are the mouth brooders. These cichlids incubate their eggs and newly hatched babies in their mouth.

Many aquarium hobbyists concentrate on keeping cichlids because of the interesting parenting behavior exhibited by them. There is also an amazing variety in body types as well as color; ranging from the familiar silver and black Angel fish to the brightly colored African Cichlids as the yellow electric cichlid found in the northwestern part of Lake Malawl in Africa. Electric yellows may live up to ten years.

Many species of cichlids are suitable for aquarium keeping and their needs range from relatively simple to quite complex. Most aquarium hobbyists have some experience in keeping fish before they keep and attempt to raise cichlids. However, the effort to become an accomplished hobbyist is worth it.

It is really interesting to see a cichlid parent and its young swimming. Then, if the parent sees something it perceives as threatening it communicates with its young and opens its mouth, and surprising the young swim into the mouth of its parent(s) for safety.

Some cave dwellers will shepherd their offspring back into the cave when danger approaches, other species of cichlids will actually attack something it perceives as a threat.

Care of the eggs and the young go beyond protecting them from predators. For example substrate brooders and cave dwellers are constantly cleaning their eggs as they incubate. Any eggs they see that are infertile or that have fungus on the attentive parent will remove from the brood.

Many cichlids do not hatch into free swimming fry, rather they hatch into a larvae stage. Typically the cichlid larvae can be about the size of a mosquito larve and are attached to the surface of the substrata or aquatic plant leaf upon which they hatched.

It is an amazing site to watch a pair of angel fish parents constantly aerate the writhing mass of larvae with their fins. If for some reason a larvae drops to a parent will pick the errant youngster up in its mouth and literally spit it back amongst its brothers and sisters. Once the larvae become free swimming fry, the parents will continue to guard their young.

There are many other species of fish besides Cichlids that are good parents. Among them are those that make a bubble nest such as the male Siamese fighting fish. The mating ritual of the Siamese fighting fish is truly an amazing sight.

The male first makes a nest of bubbles that floats on the surface of the water. The bubbles look very much like spit. Once the nest is made the male courts a female. When she is ready to lay her eggs the male will wrap his body around her in an embrace as they slowly sink. She will release ten and more eggs which he fertilizes. Then the male will unwrap himself for the female and search out the eggs that have fallen, and pick them up in his mouth. He then takes the eggs and swims to the nest he built and spits the eggs into the bubbles. 

The process is repeated until the female has laid all her eggs. Then, the male changes from lover to guardian. He chases the female away from the nest, and with good reason. She would devour the eggs she just laid if given the chance.

Now, the male settles down to care for the eggs and the nest. He constantly repairs it by blowing more bubbles, and if any of the eggs fall out he retrieves them and gently places them in the nest. Of course he will guard the nest if any predators appear.

The male will continue to tend the bubblenest, spitting eggs that fall out back into the nest. It will take one to two days for the eggs to hatch. The fry will hang suspeneded in the nest for another 36 hours or so until they have consumed the their yolk sack. After that they will become free swimming.

It is ironic that after all that work and care the male may eat his young after they become free swimming.

In North America sunfish and bass also exhibit parental care. Their habits are similar to the substrate Cichlid brooders. Perhaps you have seen the plucky little sunfish on their brooding beds in the summer. The mail will scoop out a shallow depression, the female will lay her eggs and the male will then guard the eggs until they hatch. If you are lucky enough to watch you may see a small sunfish try to drive away a larger fish in an effort to guard his brood of eggs.

His life in such shallow water is fraught with danger from large fish, frogs, and birds such as herons. But he will stay on his spawning bed until the young are hatched out. A devoted parent equal to any the animal world has to offer.