Too Big to Get In

Female Convict Cichlids are much smaller than the males. Some males can get really big and nasty and they can sometimes attack their own mates and kill them. However, it has been observed that some smart-ass female convicts will pick places with small holes that are only big enough for them to squeeze in. The male stays out, as he is too big to enter. She interacts with him at the entrance and is safe from his temper tantrums. Where spawning is concerned, she lays the eggs inside the hole itself. The male still manages to get his sperm into the cave, but this is unobserved. Some eggs get lucky enough to hatch.