Mouthbrooder

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmaʊθbɹuːdə/

Definitions

1. A fish species known for incubating its eggs or juvenile in its mouth to ensure their safety from threats
2. An organism that protects its offspring by holding them in its mouth during their early development stages
3. A type of fish that safeguards its young by keeping them inside its mouth until they develop

Etymology: Mouthbrooders are fish and frogs that carry their young in their mouths or throats rather than leaving eggs to fend for themselves. Some cichlids, for example, hold fertilised eggs and then fry in the mouth until they can swim out, while the Darwin's frog takes an even stranger route, sheltering embryos and tadpoles in its vocal sac until they metamorphose into tiny frogs. The word is a plain compound: "mouth" joined to "brooder," a term for a parent that broods, or sits over, its eggs. Brooding itself comes from the older sense of hatching or sitting on eggs, which is why the word fits animals that incubate young in a body part rather than in a nest. The construction is transparent, so the meaning is clear from its two halves alone.