Boulengerochromis microlepis
| Boulengerochromis microlepis | ||||||||||||
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Boulengerochromis microlepis |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Boulengerochromini | ||||||||||||
| Takahashi , 2003 | ||||||||||||
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| Boulengerochromis | ||||||||||||
| Pellegrin , 1904 | ||||||||||||
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| Boulengerochromis microlepis | ||||||||||||
| ( Boulenger , 1899) |
Boulengerochromis microlepis is a large cichlid thatlives endemically in Lake Tanganyika and is one of the large predatory fish there. The species was by the British in 1899 ichthyologist George Albert Boulenger as tilapia microlepis described and 1904 in honor of Boulenger by the French ichthyologist Jacques Pellegrin in the monotypic genus Boulengerochromis asked. The species epithet microlepis comes from the Greek and refers to the small scales of the species (Gr .: “micros” = small; “lepidos” = scale).
features
The fish reach a length of 65 to 70 cm and are therefore the largest African cichlids and, after Cichla temensis, the second largest cichlids in the world. Females stay a little smaller. The maximum weight is 4.5 kg. Boulengerochromis microlepis has an elongated, laterally flattened body and is of a yellowish base color, especially on the head. The area between the eye and the mouth has a bluish shimmer. The sides of the body have turned brown, shimmering silvery and have four characteristic dark spots. There are 6 to 7 vertical stripes on the flanks. Three to four more strips are upside down. The caudal peduncle is long and strong, the caudal fin deeply indented.
Way of life
Boulengerochromis microlepis lives pelagically in groups of a few hundred animals in open water and searches the coastal regions down to a depth of 100 meters for prey. Adults are piscivorous and feed on fish that swim in the open water or above-ground species. For reproduction, Boulengerochromis microlepis builds a huge pit in the sandy or gravelly soil near the coast, which can reach a depth of 1.5 meters and a diameter of four meters. To do this, several tons of sand or gravel have to be moved. The 10,000 to 15,000 eggs are laid openly in the pit, eggs and fry are guarded by the male. The fry are initially omnivorous. At the age of 2.5 years, with a length of 40 cm, they reach sexual maturity.
literature
- Soren Neergaard: Tanganyika - Cichlids. Kernen Verlag, 1982, ISBN 3-8740-1005-8 .
- Georg Zurlo: Boulengerochromis microlepis. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 165.
Web links
- Boulengerochromis microlepis on Fishbase.org (English)
- Boulengerochromis microlepis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Bigirimana, C., 2006. Accessed August 18, 2012th