Altolamprologus compressiceps
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Altolamprologus compressiceps |
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| Altolamprologus compressiceps | ||||||||||||
| ( Boulenger , 1898) |
Altolamprologus compressiceps is an African cichlid species that is endemic to the East African Lake Tanganyika .
features
Altolamprologus compressiceps has a laterally strongly flattened, high-backed body, the height of which can reach 40% of the standard length. The species can reach a maximum length of 13 cm, but usually stays smaller. There is no gender dimorphism . In contrast to Altolamprologus calvus , the neck of A. compressiceps is scaled. In the noticeably high dorsal fin you can count 20 to 21 dorsal spines, the anal fin has 9 to 12 anal spines. The mouth is densely toothed and very flexible. There are different local populations that have a different basic color and the fish can be brown-beige, olive-green or yellowish. The sides of the body are patterned by 6 to 7 dark transverse bands, which can be seen more clearly in younger specimens than in older ones. The pectoral fins are yellow to reddish orange.
- Scale formula : 31-34 (mLR).
Way of life
Altolamprologus compressiceps lives at depths of two to ten meters, a maximum of 30 meters in the rocky zone of Lake Tanganyika. The fish feed on very small other fish and on small freshwater shrimps, which they can follow with their narrow bodies even when they escape into narrow rock crevices. Altolamprologus compressiceps is a cave breeder and forms a parent family .
Systematics
The species was in 1898 by the Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger as Lamprologus compressiceps described . It was in 1986, the type species of the genus Altolamprologus that the Belgian ichthyologists Max Poll assigned was introduced. In addition to A. compressiceps , Altolamprologus also contains Altolamprologus calvus ( Poll , 1978) and a previously undescribed small species, Altolamprologus sp. "shell". In a molecular genetic investigation it was found that the haplotypes typical for A. calvus and A. compressiceps form an untidy network, which may be caused by numerous hybridization events as a result of fluctuations in the seawater level and the associated possibility that different, previously separated populations may meet and could mix, was caused.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staek: African Cichlids II, cichlids from East Africa. Tetra-Verlag, Bissendorf 1997, ISBN 3-8935-6152-8 , pages 24-25.
- ↑ a b Pierre Brichard: The Great Book of Tanganyika Cichlids. With all the other fish on Lake Tanganyika. Bede Verlag, 1995, ISBN 978-3927997943 , pages 338 - 341 u. 374
- ↑ Stephan Koblmüller, Bruno Nevado, Lawrence Makasa, Maarten Van Steenberge, Maarten PM Vanhove, Erik Verheyen, Christian Sturmbauer and Kristina M. Sefc. 2016. Phylogeny and Phylogeography of Altolamprologus: Ancient Introgression and Recent Divergence in A Rock-Dwelling Lake Tanganyika Cichlid Genus. Hydrobiologia. DOI: 10.1007 / s10750-016-2896-2
Web links
- Altolamprologus compressiceps on Fishbase.org (English)