 In a study done by Alonso, et al., they studied the reproductive behavior as well as the social behavior of this particular species to see how they accomplished their pit-spawning as well as behaviors associated with the social aspect of these animals.These researchers looked at a variety of different physiological factors in the cichlids including hormone levels, color changes, plasma cortisol levels, as well as their behavior directly associated with pit-spawning.They found that the entire spawning process could take about ninety minutes and anywhere between 400 and 800 eggs could be laid in the process.