Pucallpa dwarf cichlid

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Pucallpa dwarf cichlid
Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Cichlinae
Tribe : Geophagini
Genre : Apistogrammoides
Type : Pucallpa dwarf cichlid
Scientific name of the  genus
Apistogrammoides
Meinken , 1965
Scientific name of the  species
Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis
Meinken, 1965

The Pucallpa dwarf cichlid ( Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis ) is a very small cichlid found in the western Amazon . The only known occurrences are in western Peru in the catchment area of ​​the middle and lower Río Ucayali , in northern Peru in the lower Río Ampiyacu , a small tributary of the Amazon, and in the extreme south of Colombia on the upper Amazon. The Pucallpa dwarf cichlid is the only species in the genus Apistogrammoides . The generic name refers to the similarity with Apistogramma ( Gr.: "Oides" = similar), the specific epithet pucallpaensis on the Peruvian city of Pucallpa on the banks of the Río Ucayali, in the immediate vicinity of which the type specimens examined for the first description were caught in a stream .

features

Males of Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis are about 4 cm long, females only slightly exceed a total length of 3 cm. This makes the species one of the smallest cichlids. The body height is 35.7 to 40.7% of the standard length , the head length is 32.1 to 34.1% of the standard length. The fish are strongly flattened on the sides and show a clear sexual dimorphism . Males have a gray-brown to dark-gray back, shiny metallic sides and a whitish belly. There is a black band in the middle of the body. There are three black spots lying one above the other at the base of the tail. The reddish caudal fin is patterned by numerous small, light blue dots. The yellow-green dorsal fin is lined with black. The anal fin is greenish to bluish. The lower part of the head and the gill cover have a greenish sheen, the lips are blue-green. The individual scales are clearly visible because their edges are dark. The females are brownish and also show a dark longitudinal band on the flanks. When excited, this can be overlaid by five or six vertical stripes. The dorsal fin is greenish, the anal fin is yellowish. The pectoral fins are transparent.

Way of life

According to observations in the field, the Pucallpa dwarf cichlid lives just below the surface of the water, hidden in the dense floating vegetation. He is a substrate spawner who lays his clutch of up to 80 eggs preferably on the ceiling of caves. The female takes care of the eggs and the larvae that are not yet able to swim. After the young fish have been swimming free, both parents take over the management of the school of young fish. In its brood care behavior, Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis shows a transitional form between father-mother family and parent family , while Apistogramma species form a male- mother family. A male has several females who take care of the brood alone, while the male defends the territory .

Systematics

The Pucallpa dwarf cichlid in 1965 by Hermann Meinken, the former head of the fish office to which the Association of German aquarium and terrarium associations (VDA) , described and associated with a new genus. The reason for the establishment of the new genus was the number of hard rays in the anal fin . Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis has six to nine, Apistogramma species usually only three hard rays. Only in Apistogramma commbrae , A. hoignei and A. luelingi are there four hard rays, more have only been counted in a few exceptional cases so far, six only once in A. luelingi . The cheek is completely covered with large scales in Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis , but only partially with two rows of scales in Apistogramma . Compared to Apistogramma , Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis has a reduced side line .

After phylogenetic studies in which three mitochondrial and two markers from the nucleus - DNA were compared, the Pucallpa dwarf cichlid, however, is within the genus Apistogramma and needs of this type are assigned.

literature

  • Sven O. Kullander : Cichlid fishes of the Amazon River drainage of Peru. Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, 1986, pp. 194-195, ISBN 91-86510-04-5
  • Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staek: American cichlids I, small cichlids. Tetra-Verlag, Bissendorf 1997, ISBN 3-8935-6153-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Claus Schaefer: Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 82.
  2. ↑ a b Kullander (1986), page 199.
  3. ↑ Hermann Meinken: About a new genus and species of the family Cichlidae from Peru (Pisces, Percoidea, Cichlidae). Senckenbergiana biologica , Volume 46, No. 1, Pages 47-53. March 1965, ISSN  0037-2102
  4. ↑ Hernán López-Fernández, Kirk O. Winemiller, Rodney L. Honeycutt: Multilocus phylogeny and rapid radiations in Neotropical cichlid fishes (Perciformes: Cichlidae: Cichlinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 55, Issue 3, June 2010, Pages 1070-1086 doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2010.02.020

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