Apistogramma erythrura
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Apistogramma erythrura , male of the blue morph |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Apistogramma erythrura | ||||||||||||
| Staeck & Schindler, 2008 |
Apistogramma erythrura is a small species of cichlid from South America in the catchment area of the lower Río Mamoré in the province of Beni in Bolivia . The species addition refers to the red tail of adult males ( Greek : erythro = red + ura = tail).
features
Apistogramma erythrura is relatively high back and shows a strong sexual dimorphism . Females are beige in color with a gray back, gray dorsal, anal and pelvic fins, a transparent caudal fin and a conspicuous dark longitudinal band. During brood care they are lemon yellow, show a black spot on the edge of the preoperculum and the black longitudinal band is reduced to a spot. Males appear in two color morphs , one with a light blue and one with a yellow base color. Both show a sharply defined lateral longitudinal ligament that widens backwards and extends into the caudal fin without forming a caudal root point. The caudal fin of adult males is partially or completely red in color. The membranes in the anterior dorsal fin are greatly elongated and the pelvic fins are drawn out and extend to the rear end of the anal fin base.
- Fins formula : dorsal XIV-XVI / 6- (7), anal III / 6-7, ventral I / 5.
- Dandruff formula : SL 10-14 / 5-7
Habitat and way of life
Apistogramma erythrura lives in small clear water streams and near the banks in lakes with clear water. In the months of July to November, a pH value of 5.2 to 6.4 was measured, the electrical conductivity is 10 to 20 µS , the total hardness is less than 1 ° dH and the temperature was 25.1 to 31 ° C. The fish are mostly close to the water surface in dense vegetation consisting of the azure blue water hyacinth ( Eichhornia azurea ), the forked hair mermaid ( Cabomba furcata ), Paspalum repens and water hoses ( Utricularia ). Accompanying the fish are black neon tetra ( Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi ), the Black Phantom Tetra ( Hyphessobrycon megalopterus ) Hyphessobrycon elachys , Moenkhausia australe , the three-banded pencilfish ( Nannostomus trifasciatus ) and the integration-pencilfish ( Nannostomus unifasciatus ). The flag cichlid ( Mesonauta festivus ) also occurs a little deeper .
Stomach examinations showed that Apistogramma erythrura mainly eats water fleas belonging to the suborder Anomopoda , copepods , mites, mosquito larvae and other insect larvae. Like all Apistogramma species, fish are territorial and polygamous . The large territory of a male encloses several territories of females with which the male reproduces. Apistogramma erythrura prefers to spawn on the underside of leaves. At a water temperature of 27 ° C, the larvae hatch about three days after laying their eggs and swim freely after five days.
Systematics
The species was scientifically described by two German ichthyologists in 2008 after it had been known as Apistogramma sp. "Mamoré" was known in the aquarium hobby. It is closely related to the three-lined dwarf cichlid ( Apistogramma trifasciata ) and can be distinguished from this species by the lack of dark markings below the dark flank line and the slightly higher body.
literature
- Staeck, W. and I. Schindler, 2008. Apistogramma erythrura sp. N.- a new geophagine dwarf cichlid (Teleostei: Perciformes: Cichlidae) from the rio Mamoré drainage in Bolivia. Vertebrate Zoology 58 (2): 197-206. PDF
Web links
- Apistogramma erythrura on Fishbase.org (English)