 Spawning usually occurs in the latter part of the morning.Hatching occurs after around three days from laying.The 3-mm larvae look quite different from juveniles of the species and have no mouth for several days, but are recognizably perch-like after around 27 to 30 days.This species is mainly carnivorous, they eat various dipteran larvae, including mosquitos, ostracods, and copepods, and small quantities of algae, and are adept at taking mosquitoes from the surface of the water.