Peacock Gudgeon Breeding Guide

How to breed the peacock gudgeon (Tateurndina ocellicauda): sexing the nuchal hump, cave spawning, male brood care, and raising the cave-laid fry.

Overview

Tateurndina ocellicauda is a small Papua New Guinean goby that spawns in caves, where the male guards the eggs until they hatch. A well-conditioned pair will spawn readily, making it one of the more accessible cave-spawning subjects.

Sexing

Mature males are generally more colourful, especially in spawning condition, slightly larger, and develop a pronounced nuchal hump. Females show a yellow belly that males lack and, when young, can be told apart by black barring on the anal and dorsal fins; males lack these bars and develop fins that extend beyond the caudal fin base.

Conditioning

Feed prospective breeders a good diet of live and frozen foods and carry out around 20 percent weekly water changes. When well conditioned, the bellies of the females become visibly swollen.

Breeding Setup

Caves are essential, as the species spawns inside them. Short lengths of plastic piping work well; positioning a cave near the front glass aids observation. Maintain standard conditions of roughly 22 to 26 degrees Celsius, pH 6.5 to 7.5 and 5 to 10 degrees hardness.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

The male displays at the cave entrance, fluttering and flaring his fins, and may nudge the female toward the cave with gentle physical force. The female attaches eggs by small adhesive threads to the cave roof.

Egg & Fry Care

After spawning the male takes on all brood care, fanning the eggs and resting among them to keep the water around them well oxygenated; this care ceases once the eggs hatch. Hatching occurs in about five to seven days, and the fry become free-swimming a few days later. Once fully free-swimming they accept brine shrimp nauplii and microworm, but they need their own aquarium or they will usually be eaten.

Common Challenges

Because parental care stops at hatching and adults will predate free-swimming fry, the fry should be reared separately. Providing clean water and suitably small first foods at free-swimming is the key to good survival.