People who have kept chetumalensis or spilurus, do the females dance?

[Hybridfish7]

I have recently started a colony of cryptoheros cutteri. I've kept cutteri for a long time but never in groups. The colony currently consists of 2 males and 3 females. I planned on getting more but one pair has formed in the middle of the 33, and one of the males has paired with two of the females, one on opposite sides of the tank.
One thing I've noticed in cutteri is the females dance.

This behavior seems to be exclusive to female cutteri, out of all the convict type CA fish I've kept (I have so far kept all but altoflava and spilurus). It's very similar to the greeting dance I've seen males of amatitlania and cryptoheros do when females are introduced to their territory, except a lot faster and they're a lot more mobile while doing it. This behavior seems to be the reason for the high amounts of blue speckling on the fins of females. Their blues will get brighter and their heads turn darker, unless they're in the pseudo-breeding dress courting coloration. The dance seems to accentuate the blue, as the flecks flash as they wave their tails and fins around.
Dance in question:

Cryptoheros cutteri, female dancing (I cannot get close w/o them stopping to hide from the phone)

youtube.com

I was wondering if any of the other cryptoheros do this. I have kept chetumalensis, but have never gotten them to breeding size myself (first group of three I lost the pair to a cold front as I had them outside and the remaining female got bloat, second group of 6 I lost 1 a day after getting them and 4 more in two days of a random fast acting ich wave) and have only seen videos of pairs with fry already.

Also, while I'm at it, if anyone has spilurus they're willing to give up or sell, I am here waiting.

 

[newworld]

Kept both have Chets now what makes cutteri unusual?

 

[Hybridfish7]

Kept both have Chets now what makes cutteri unusual?

The dancing, I'm wondering if females of the other cryptoheros dance like that too. I haven't seen this behavior in females of any other genre.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Got some chetumalensis but they are too small to know this yet. Will report back if I see breeding behavior, I bet they start pretty young, mine are 1.5"

 

[newworld]

Yes they all do that…

 

[duanes]

Yes they all do that…

Agree
I have kept and had at least 6 species of the clade spawn in my tanks, and they all display in a similar manner.
In fact all the 100 hundred or so cichlid species I've kept, display in some similar manner or another.

 

[ryansmith83]

Dancing during the courting ritual is common amongst a lot of cichlids, both old and new world.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Dancing during the courting ritual is common amongst a lot of cichlids, both old and new world.

Yes they all do that…

Agree
I have kept and had at least 6 species of the clade spawn in my tanks, and they all display in a similar manner.
In fact all the 100 hundred or so cichlid species I've kept, display in some similar manner or another.

I'm aware, but each one has a somewhat unique dance, and only a few that I've seen have females that dance as opposed to the males. Amatitlania females have a similar dance to pelvicachromis, where they'll flare their fins and circle the male. Males will do the tail slap thing. I'm sure most of you are acquainted with the tail rubbing fluttery dance and "flashing" dance rift lake mouthbrooders do. I have not yet seen the aforementioned tail slap thing in male cryptoheros aside from during dominance disputes between males, but as I've mentioned in this thread I notice the females are more involved with the attraction of males. In my cutteri colony there's one male that passes between three females, each female does the little erratic dance around him when he passes into their territory. He currently has eggs with two of them, and the less dominant male is currently somewhat bonded to the female in the middle of the tank, but she still displays for the larger male when he passes through to get to his other female.

I made this thread wondering if chetumalensis or spilurus share this behavior in relatively densely populated settings. I am well acquainted with the rituals of septemfasciata, myrnae, nanolutea, sajica, kanna, and pure nigrofasciata, and deem the behavior of species in what is now recognized as cryptoheros to be unique to these.

 

[Poseidon2.0]

I'm aware, but each one has a somewhat unique dance, and only a few that I've seen have females that dance as opposed to the males. Amatitlania females have a similar dance to pelvicachromis, where they'll flare their fins and circle the male. Males will do the tail slap thing. I'm sure most of you are acquainted with the tail rubbing fluttery dance and "flashing" dance rift lake mouthbrooders do. I have not yet seen the aforementioned tail slap thing in male cryptoheros aside from during dominance disputes between males, but as I've mentioned in this thread I notice the females are more involved with the attraction of males. In my cutteri colony there's one male that passes between three females, each female does the little erratic dance around him when he passes into their territory. He currently has eggs with two of them, and the less dominant male is currently somewhat bonded to the female in the middle of the tank, but she still displays for the larger male when he passes through to get to his other female.

I made this thread wondering if chetumalensis or spilurus share this behavior in relatively densely populated settings. I am well acquainted with the rituals of septemfasciata, myrnae, nanolutea, sajica, kanna, and pure nigrofasciata, and deem the behavior of species in what is now recognized as cryptoheros to be unique to these.

I appreciate the detail of your observations here. Am thinking of purchasing a small colony of the cutteri. Am looking forward to them after reading your post.

 

[Hybridfish7]

I appreciate the detail of your observations here. Am thinking of purchasing a small colony of the cutteri. Am looking forward to them after reading your post.

After getting a subscription to cichlid room companion, and digging around a bit, I can confirm the dancing thing is a known behavior across cryptoheros. Females form territories and dance for passing males to court them. Spilurus females also get a dark blotch on their bellies while courting. A. myrnae also shares this behavior, moreso with the latter.