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How do cichlid fish use apparent death to attract prey?
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Avoidance behaviour
Cat fleeing by upward climbing.
It is a common misconception that tonic immobility is exclusively a defensive mechanism used to escape predation. While it is frequently used for that purpose, certain predatory cichlid fish, such as Nimbochromis livingstonii and Parachromis friedrichsthalii, utilize this state as an aggressive hunting strategy to attract prey.1
These fish use the behavior to appear lifeless, lying on their sides at the bottom of a body of water. By remaining motionless and appearing as if they are dead, they effectively lure scavenger fish that are searching for carrion. When the unsuspecting prey ventures too close to the seemingly dead fish, the cichlid ambushes and consumes them.1