Bathybates ferox
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Bathybates ferox |
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| Bathybates ferox | ||||||||||||
| Boulenger , 1898 |
Bathybates ferox is an African cichlid , the endemic in the East African Tanganjikasee occurs.
features
Bathybates ferox is elongated, strongly flattened on the sides and can reach a maximum length of 38.5 cm. The length of the fish is 4 to 4.5 times the maximum body height. The head length is 2.75 to 2.95 times included in the standard length . The eyes are oval. Like all Bathybates species, Bathybates ferox has small secondary scales that are arranged in a ring around the larger primary scales and partially cover them and the channels that normally stand between the larger scales. These serve to avoid turbulence that occurs on uneven surfaces and to make the fish more streamlined and faster. In contrast to Bathybates vittatus , these secondary scales do not completely cover the primary scales in Bathybates ferox in most cases. Typical of Bathybates ferox are the horizontal rows of dark spots on the sides of the body, which get smaller and smaller from the back to the stomach.
- Fin formula : Dorsal XIII – XV / 15–17, Anale III / 16–19.
- Scale formula 71-85 (mLR)
- 12–15 gill rake
Way of life
Bathybates ferox lives in small schools and feeds mainly on the two species of herring Limnothrissa miodon and Stolothrissa tanganicae that occur in Lake Tanganyika . Spawning takes place in sandy zones close to the shore. After spawning, the female takes the eggs in her mouth (mouth brooders ). The fry mingle with the schools of sand cichlids ( Callochromis , Ectodus , Xenotilapia ) living near the shore until they are about 8 cm long and adopt the way of life of their parents.
source
- Pierre Brichard: The Big Book of Tanganyika Cichlids. With all the other fish on Lake Tanganyika. Bede Verlag GmbH. 1995, ISBN 978-3927997943 , pages 278-279.
Web links
- Bathybates ferox on Fishbase.org (English)