The effect of experience on the development of parental behavior in the blue gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus

Abstract

Male blue gouramis normally perform parental behavior after spawning. Non-spawning, non-parental males can also be induced to perform parental behavior when presented with a large number of eggs. In the experiment reported here, non-spawning, non-parental males with and without reproductive experience were tested with successively larger stimuli of 500 to a maximum of 3000 eggs, or until a criterion for a strong parental responsiveness was reached. At least 10 days elapsed between successive tests of the same male. As stimulus size increased the number of males performing parental behavior increased. The experienced males showed parental behavior in response to smaller numbers of stimulus eggs than did inexperienced males. The experiential effect was long-term, since the experienced males had had their last reproductive experience at least 21 days before the start of testing.