Astatoreochromis straeleni
| Astatoreochromis straeleni | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult male from the Malagarasi |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Astatoreochromis straeleni | ||||||||||||
| ( Poll , 1944) |
Astatoreochromis straeleni ( Syn .: Haplochromis straeleni , Astatoreochromis vanderhorsti (Greenwood, 1954)) is an African cichlid species that grows in East Africa in tributaries to Lake Tanganyika Malagarasi and Ruzizi , in the lake itself in the mouth widths of these rivers and inthe only outflow ofthese rivers, Lukuga occurs. Some specimens have also been found in the ports of Bujumbura and Ujiji . Astatoreochromis straeleni was named after V. Van Straelen, who was director of the Museum for the Belgian Congo in Tervuren from 1926 to 1954and is known in English as "Bluelip haplo".
features
Astatoreochromis straeleni becomes 12 cm long and has the typical beefy shape of a haplochromine cichlid with a slightly flattened trunk. The head profile can become concave on old specimens. The eye diameter corresponds to the interpupillary distance or is shorter. The tail stalk can be longer than tall or slightly higher than long. The 8 to 10 gill rakes on the lower section of the first gill arch are short and thick. The last three or four are greatly reduced. The scales are cycloid , the scales ctenoid along the sidelines . In the upper jaw there are 32-56 teeth in the outer row of teeth, in the lower jaw 23-44, whereby the teeth are unequal in size, two-pointed and sometimes flattened.
- Fin formula : dorsal XVI-XIIX (XIX) / 7-10, anal III- (IV) / 8-10, pectoral (11,12) 13-14.
- Scale formula : SL 13-21 / 2-8, mLR 28-33 (without the small scales on the caudal fin base, with these 31-32).
The back is dark gray-yellow, the gill cover , the upper sides of the head, throat and belly are orange-yellow. The lips and the lower sides of the head are iridescent blue. The fins are orange-yellow, the dorsal fin has a reddish edge. The males' anal fin shows 2 to 3 horizontal rows of bright orange-yellow egg spots. The egg spots of the females are smaller. The rounded caudal fin is provided with 6 to 8 rows of more or less regularly arranged black dots. The color can be more or less dark depending on the habitat.
Of astatoreochromis alluaudi , the second species of the genus is different bluelip haplo mainly by a smaller number of hard radiation in dorsal and anal fins (16-18 (19) vs . (16) 17-20 and 3- (4) vs . 4-7). A third species, Astatoreochromis vanderhorsti (Greenwood, 1954) was synonymous with Astatoreochromis straeleni in 2013 .
Way of life
Astatoreochromis straeleni is a species that mainly lives in rivers, prefers clear water, but avoids the main stream, but occurs in overgrown riparian zones or adjacent swamps. It feeds on snails , shellfish , insects, other invertebrates, detritus, and plant matter. Like all haplochromine cichlids, Astatoreochromis straeleni is a mouthbrooder . The species may reproduce at the beginning of the dry season from December to January.
literature
- Gaspard Bayankimbona, Emmanuel Vreven, Jos Snoeks: A revision of the genus Astatoreochromis (Teleostei, Cichlidae), East Africa. European Journal of Taxonomy 39: 1-21 ISSN 2118-9773 , doi: 10.5852 / ejt.2013.39 .
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Web links
- Astatoreochromis straeleni on Fishbase.org (English)