The Mouthbrooder reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Mouthbrooder

Mouthbrooder is a term used when talking about fish. Parents care for the eggs/larva/fry by holding them in their mouth, thus protecting them from danger by third party fish.
Which parent performs this task differs from species to species, any combination is possible:

• both parents share the eggs - usually for species that show a strong pair binding, i.e. pairs that stick together a whole life
• the father holds the eggs
• the mother holds the eggs - this is often the case for polygame species
• or a role change some time inbetween

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