nursing fish???

[Magnum Man]

a mind left to it's own accord, can wander into strange places...

this morning I thought I saw a baby in my Hillstream tank... turned out ( I think ) to be the smallest panda loach, with it's markings, it appeared smaller... shortly afterwards, a panda garra, saddled up next to it, like a mother would, to suckle it's young... made me question, if any fish suckles it's young...

I'm familiar with writings about discus babies eating "slime" from their parents... well, that's kind of like suckling, if the parents produce anything but normal fish slime...

this from the www. "Yes, discus fish exhibit a unique behavior of nursing their young. Both the male and female discus produce a mucus-like substance on their skin that the fry feed on, similar to how mammals produce milk. This mucus provides essential nutrients and beneficial bacteria for the fry's development."

then I found this...

" eelpout suckles its young embryos while still within their mother's body, making it the only fish species to suckle its offspring."

I'm supposing in the wild, bio film, and small critters provide most of what is needed for small fish...

any others, you guys can think of, or anyone that has bred discus, want to comment???

 

[GaryE]

There is a shortage of nipples in the fish world. Several Genera feed their young in the womb, and a few have the body slime thing going.

 

[Uberhoust]

I don't think it is too much a stretch to get nursing fish. Fish slime contains lipids and some proteins so it can and does in the case of Discus, provide a food source for fry. If you consider mammals they didn't start with nipples, as well other creatures can produce food for their young, consider pigeons feeding their chick crop milk. If there is a nutrient source nearby the young fry will use it. When I was raising angel fish the fry would occasionally feed on the slime of their parents, not often but just sometimes.

 

[Colin_T]

Uarus feed their young like discus do.

With a title like Nursing fish. I am glad there wasn't a photo of the op with a baby guppy on his hairy chest.
When people post titles like that, my mind just goes "WTF has he done this time"