Behaviour
Alternative male mating tactics such as piracy mating and sneaking behaviour - both forms of reproductive parasitism - have been documented in the normal form of Telmatochromis temporalis.
Sneaker behaviour includes the following:
- sneaker males, smaller than the paired females can be found
- sneaker males do not guard the broods, suggesting reproductive parasitism
- once sneaker males enter the nest, paired males (larger than sneaker males) can’t enter the spawning nest, which makes it difficult to chase sneaker males out
Piracy behaviour includes the following:
- some large males (90–110mm TL) do not pair a few months before rainy season
- large males maintain large territories that are defended against conspecific large males and that contain several pairing small males (50–80mm)
- large males then occasionally visit the nests of the small pairs in their territories, and selectively take over the nests by attacking the owner male
- during the takeover, the large males can court the small females in the nests and might ejaculate sperm
- after the large males leaves the nests, the small owner males conduct paternal care at the nests
- this so-called piracy mating of large male Telmatochromis temporalis seems to be an alternative tactic when large females are not available
