Altolamprologus calvus
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Altolamprologus calvus |
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| ( Poll , 1978) |
Altolamprologus calvus ( Syn .: Lamprologus calvus ), in Germancalled guinea fowl cichlid , is aspecies of cichlid endemic to the south of the East African Lake Tanganyika . It was caught for the first time in 1975 by the fish exporter Pierre Brichard and was initially thought to be a differently colored Altolamprologus compressiceps , possibly due to sexual dichromatism . Only when he had specimens of both forms in the same bucket two years later did he notice that the two also differed in their morphology and he sent specimens of the species to the Belgian ichthyologist and expert on the cichlids of Lake Tanganyika, Max Poll, for detailed examination. He described the new species in 1978 as Lamprologus calvus .
features
Males grow up to 13.5 cm long, while females stay 10 cm smaller. Altolamprologus calvus has a strongly flattened, high-backed body and a beefy head with a large, pointed mouth. The "forehead" is scaly ( calvus = Latin for bald), while "forehead" and the region between the eyes in Altolamprologus compressiceps are scaly. The dorsal and anal fins are pointed. Altolamprologus calvus is steel blue in color and has numerous mother-of-pearl , silvery or whitish dots arranged in rows on the body, which is why it is called "guinea fowl cichlid" in German. A. compressiceps , on the other hand, is more yellowish. Depending on the mood, 7 to 8 dark, vertical stripes are visible on the sides of the body of Altolamprologus calvus , the first of which is directly behind the eye. Another strip extends from the eye to the mouth. A blackish form of Altolamprologus calvus may be a species in its own right.
Way of life
Altolamprologus calvus lives in the upper area on the rocky shores of Lake Tanganyika and usually maintains a maximum distance of 30 cm to one meter from the ground. It is a specialized predatory fish that can penetrate narrow rock cracks and shallow caves with its narrow body, where it preyes on shrimp and other small crustaceans. Like all lamprologine cichlids , it is a substrate spawner . There are around 200 eggs in one clutch.
literature
- Pierre Brichard: The Big Book of Tanganyika Cichlids. With all the other fish on Lake Tanganyika. Bede Verlag, 1995, ISBN 978-3927997943 .
- Georg Zurlo: Altolamprologus calvus. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 37 f.
Web links
- Altolamprologus calvus on Fishbase.org (English)