Bathybates leo

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Bathybates leo
Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Bathybatini
Genre : Bathybates
Type : Bathybates leo
Scientific name
Bathybates leo
Poll , 1956

Bathybates leo is an African cichlid , the endemic in the East African Tanganjikasee occurs.

features

Bathybates leo is elongated, strongly flattened on the sides and can reach a maximum length of 26 cm. Like all Bathybates species, Bathybates leo has small secondary scales that are arranged in a ring around the larger primary scales and partially cover these 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 leo in most cases. The secondary scales are used to avoid turbulence that occurs on uneven surfaces and to make the fish more streamlined and faster. Typical of Bathybates leo are round eyes, spots drawn out upwards and downwards on the front sides of the body, several horizontal dark stripes on the back of the body and the barely notched dorsal fin.

Way of life

Bathybates leo lives in small schools and feeds mainly on the two types 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.

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