Each female lays 1,000–6,000 eggs per spawning and she may spawn multiple times in a season.[4] Both parents guard the eggs and fry.[4][5][9] In tropical locations it breeds year-round, although peaking in the rainy season.[5][5] In colder subtropical regions like Israel it only breeds in the summer,[5][9] at water temperatures of at least 20 °C (68 °F).[14] All other cichlids native to Western Asia are mouthbrooders.[9]