Bathybates graueri
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Bathybates graueri |
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| Steindachner , 1911 |
Bathybates hornii is a species of African cichlid that is endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa.
features
Bathybates graueri is elongated, laterally strongly flattened and can reach a maximum length of 30 cm. The length of the fish reaches 3.55 to 4.75 times the maximum body height. Like all Bathybates species, Bathybates graueri has small secondary scales that are arranged in a ring around the larger primary scales and partially cover these and the grooves 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 graueri in most cases. The tail stalk is 2 to 2.1 times as long as it is high. Typical of Bathybates graueri is a drawing pattern with short vertical and horizontal dark stripes on the bluish-silvery sides of the body and the slightly notched dorsal fin.
- Fin formula : Dorsal XII – XV / 14–16, Anale III / 15–16.
- Scale formula 71-87 (mLR)
- 8–11 gill rake
Way of life
Bathybates graueri lives in small schools and feeds mainly on the two herring species 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 graueri on Fishbase.org (English)