[Anna M]

My daughter just wanted to know! She asked me about 15 or 20 minutes ago! I need to know! Please reply back!

[madderthanthehatter]

Fish lay eggs in the wild and them leave them. In the wild when they see a small hatchling they have know idea it's theirs or even their species, they just see lunch and smaller fish are what bigger fish eat.

[virtualguy92107]

Actually, a lot of fish do care for their babies. The reference has some examples. Different species evolve different reproductive strategies - you can invest a lot of time and energy in taking care of a very few kids, like people do, or you can invest your energy in making as many babies as possible, like codfish or mosquitoes do.































en.wikipedia.org

[pallas523]

Some fish DO care for their babies, but most do not. Some fish that do: Betta fish-the father cares for developing fry by keeping them in a bubble nest- if they fall out, he scoops them into his mouth and spits them back in the nestCichlids - the female holds the eggs and fry in her mouth to keep them safe from predatorsBluegills - the father guards his nest of eggs from other males and allows the female to go off and eat and therefore be able to mate again soonerThe reason that many fish don't care for their young has to do with a theory in ecology called "r- selection". This basically means they optimize the possibility of passing on their genes to the next generation by having many many many babies, by reproducing often, and by not using valuable energy to care for the babies. The opposite is "k-selection" in which an organism has very few offspring, takes very good care of them, and doesn't have more babies until the last one is able to take care of itself. Humans are generally considered to be "k-selected."