Vieja fenestrata (Gunther, 1860)

Contreras-Tapia, Rubén Alonso, Mirón, Marcela Ivonne Benítez-Díaz, Mouriño, Gabriela Garza & Castellanos-Páez, María Elena, 2024, From hatching to juvenile: Larval development of Vieja fenestrata (Teleostei: Cichlidae), Journal of Fish Biology 105 (6), pp. 1588-1602 : 1589

2.1 | Breeding of V. fenestrata

The V. fenestrata broodstock was maintained under laboratory conditions for a minimum of 2 years and spawned regularly at the Laboratory of Rotiferology and Molecular Biology of Plankton at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco (UAM-X). Adult males and females were subjected to constant conditions (28 ± 1 C, 12:12 light/dark photoperiod cycle) in a 1000-L tank (200 80 60 cm). Upon establishing pairs, single pairs were separated into 240-L tanks (120 40 50 cm), with only rocks (flagstone) and pots, under the same conditions. The tanks had continuous aeration, mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration, and weekly water changes of 10% of the volume. The fish were fed thrice a day with a commercial omnivorous diet (El Pedregal; 42% protein content). The fish were monitored, and once spawning was completed, the rock carrying the fertilized spawn was transferred to a 40-L aquarium (50 25 30 cm) with water from the main aquarium and maintained under the same conditions. The larval development of different clutches was characterized according to the protocol until day 15 post-hatching. The females of V. fenestrata exhibited regular spawning every 16 to 18 days, with a spawning size ranging from 1300 to 1500 eggs, with less than 1% unfertilized eggs. The nonfertilized eggs and dead embryos were eliminated from the aquariums. Random eggs (n = 10) were observed every 3 h under a stereo microscope to follow development until hatching. Embryos’ hatching occurs between 58 and 60 h.