Any time the male Badis badis comes entirely
out of the burrow, except when retrieving
larvae, he is said to Wander. Characteristically
Wandering is swimming out of the burrow to
forage or to patrol the aquarium, Wandering
seldom lasts more than 30 seconds to a minute at
a time. Prolonged Wandering becomes fluttering
up and clown at the glass front of the
aquarium.
Parental male rarely Chafe themselves while
in the burrow. Chafing is mainly confined to
Wandering; then it may become unusually
frequent. Up to eleven Chafes have been tallied
during one Wander.
The occurrence of Wandering on the day of
spawning is variable but usually is low. It
tends to be least on the day of hatching,
increasing rapidly on the last day of the cycle.
A secondary peak, however, would occur on the
day of hatching and the day following if the
retrieving activities of the male were tallied
as Wanderings.
Wandering reflects attachment of male to the
clutch. Two factors can be recognized as
competing with the attrac tionof the clutch. One
is hunger; the male leaves the burrow briefly to
catch a worm. Presumably the motivation to feed
remains fairly stable throughout the cycle
although strong, attachment to the clutch seems
to reduce the incidence of foraging. The other
plausible cause of Wandering, is sexual
motivation. In nonforaging Wanders the male may
be searching for a female.
Chapiter VI : Yawning
Yawning was tallied when the mouth
was gaped and the median fins at least partially
erected. In the two isolated male that were
observed, there was no overlap in the ranges of
Yawns per hour indicating individual
variation. Individual differences are also
apparent during the reproductive cycle though
they are less marked.
Averaging the values simple curves. On day
one Yawning increases after spawning and
then declines somewhat as do Fanning and
Shuddering. In the days following spawning
Yawning continues to increase until the
last day of the parental cycle when it becomes
less frequent.
The value shown for day one in Figure 14
rnay be too high as a result of sampling error.
Other observations for day one resulted in a
value of about 8 or less Yawns per hour
(2.5 per 20 min.); this reading would smooth the
curve in Fig. 14.
The Yawning curve resembles the curve
for the duration of Fanning. But yet closer
correspondence is achieved by comparing the
curves for Yawning and for the tempo;
they are near mirror images of one another. When
the tempo is slow, Yawning tends to be
more frequent, diminishing as the tempo
quickens. [...]
Summary
Badis badis lives close to the bottom, often
in holes and crevices called burrows. Female and
immature fish ventilate their burrows, drawing
water into them by means of slow (2.5-4.1
beats/sec.), alternate beats of the pectoral
fins.
The male actively excavates his burrow.
Digging consists of rapid bursts of
high-frequency swimming movements. When
finished, the male awaits the female. She enters
the burrow to spawn with the male and departs
immediately thereafter. Parental care is
performed by the male alone.
The parental phase usually lasts five to six
complete days, the first day being termed day
one. On day three the eggs hatch and the larvae
swim up fo the ceiling of the burrow. On day six
or seven the postlarvae swim out the burrow.
Breeding cycles sometimes overlap.
During, the parental phase the eggs are
probed, mostly during the first day, and the
unfit ones eaten. Organisms such as snails,
lecches, and other fish are attacked. When the
larvae appear the male retrieves those that
stray from the burrow, an action termed
carrying. Near the end of the cycle the male
comes out of the burrow (wandering) more
often.
Shuddering is related to digging, but
differs in its taxis ind time of appearance.
Exposure to a female increases its incidence.
Shuddering is common on day one, diminishes
thereafter, but increases slightly on day five
or six. It serves to cleanse the eggs,which lie
on the floor of the burrow.
Fanning resembles hovering; at high tempos
it may grade into shuddering or digging. It
produces a current that ventilates the eggs or
larvae. Three of its dimensions, time spent
fanning (duration), number of bouts, and tempo
(median beats per second), were measured. From
these data were calculated the average bout
duration, median beats per bout, and number of
beats per hour. Bout lengths, beats per bout,
and duration tend to vary together; they
incrense to about the time of hatching, then
drop off. Bout length is negatively correlated
with tempo although day one is exceptional. The
number of bout decreases smoothly to the day of
hatching, then holds near constant. The number
of beats per hour the best index of output or
performance, decreases throughout the parental
phase. The tempo is greatest on the day of
spawning decreasing, subsequently but rising
slightly on the last day or two of the cycle; it
resembles the curve for shuddering. The curve
for the incidence of yawning mirrors that for
the tempo.
