Scissortail sergeant
Filial cannibalism, the act of eating one's own children, is common in territorial male fish. It occurs during the parental phase of brood cycling. Embryo mortality rates are generally attributed more to filial cannibalism than to other fish eating eggs because embryo predators are largely unsuccessful. Recent studies suggest that filial cannibalism, in fact, is an evolutionarily adaptive behavior. Baseline cannibalism is a result of males eating nonviable or damaged eggs, but males may cannibalize their current broods even more based on the costs and benefits of their parental investment. Raising offspring requires a large amount of energy