Bathybates minor
| Bathybates minor | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bathybates minor |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Bathybates minor | ||||||||||||
| Boulenger , 1906 |
Bathybates minor is a species of African cichlid that is endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa.
features
Bathybates minor is elongated, laterally strongly flattened and can reach a maximum length of 21 cm. The length of the fish is 3.55 to 3.85 times the maximum body height. Like all Bathybates species, Bathybates minor 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 minor in most cases. Typical of Bathybates minor are the four horizontal dark stripes on the sides of the body and the clearly notched dorsal fin.
- Fin formula : Dorsal XIII – XIV / 15–17, Anale III / 17–19.
- Scale formula 71-86 (mLR)
- 10–12 gill rake
Way of life
Bathybates minor 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.
Web links
- Bathybates minor on Fishbase.org (English)