Broad-striped snail cichlid
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Broad-striped snail cichlid ( Neolamprologus similis ), aquarium photo |
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| Büscher , 1992 |
The broad-striped snail cichlid ( Neolamprologus similis ) is one of the snail cichlids from Lake Tanganyika . They belong to the group of cichlids that have opened up an unusual ecological niche - Neothauma snail shells. Due to the very hard and alkaline water in the lake, the houses of dead snails are preserved for a long time and collect on sandy areas at the bottom of the lake. They represent accommodation and hiding place for the snail cichlids.
habitat
The habitat of the broad-striped snail cichlid is sandy and muddy soils with their numerous snail shells. In the lake, the total hardness is 10 ° to 12 ° dH and the carbonate hardness is significantly higher, between 15 ° and 18 °.
features
It is a very small cichlid. The strong and beefy males grow up to 4 cm. The females are significantly smaller. The animals have a light brown basic color, on the sides a distinctive stripe pattern of light and dark stripes can be seen. The dark stripes are wider than the light ones. In contrast to Neolamprologus multifasciatus , whose stripes only begin after the head and are also narrower, the stripes begin in the head area. His eyes shine in a light blue and the fin edge has a yellow sheen depending on the incidence of light.
behavior
It is a peculiarity of the animals to lay their snail shells on the ground. At the latest at spawning time, the cichlid begins to move the snail shell into a position that is suitable for it. To do this, he takes a mouthful of sand, carries it to the edge of his territory and spits it out again. This continues until the subsurface is removed from the area of the housing tip, so that it finally sinks into the subsoil and its territory is surrounded by a high sand wall. Stones are also being subverted. Damaged snail shells are either buried with sand or pulled aside by pulling movements.
One male watches over several females. The females usually stand in front of the entrance of their snail shells or are busy with the disposal of sand residue. The males usually stand over their territory and look out for competitors or are also busy with sand disposal. Fights usually consist only of threatening gestures ; to do this, the animals stand upside down in the water and threaten their competitors with splayed gills and wide open mouths. Often the body is bent to the side so that the animals look like a comma. All animals help defend the colony. The largest and strongest animals form a line of defense. In the case of significantly larger animals, all of them take flight into their snail shells. Each broad-striped snail cichlid claims its own snail shell. The young animals stay in the colony and help to raise the other offspring. Some of the offspring migrate to the edge of the colony, where, in the absence of snail shells, they also move into rock crevices.
Reproduction
Outwardly, the sexes are difficult to distinguish. The males are larger than the females when fully grown. Spawning takes place in the female's snail shell, and the male also goes in to inseminate the clutch. The narrow conditions in the snail shells with stagnant water are likely to reduce the oxygen content inside. By intensely fanning with its pectoral fins in front of a snail shell, as well as swimming in and backwards, the brood-caring animal generates a stream of water for sufficient oxygen supply. After about 12 days the first fry can be seen at the entrance. The fry split up after a while and find shelter with both the father and the mother. The females no longer tolerate young fish in their snail shell when a new clutch is on the way; the father still tolerates them. It could also be observed that nearby, empty snail shells were being prepared for the young fish. The parents sink empty snail shells in the sand and the entrance is made smaller with sand so that only young fish could enter. However, the animals do not necessarily have to rely on empty snail shells for reproduction. They also refer to narrow caves and crevices as shelters and breeding grounds. As a rule, a clutch consists of around 10 animals.
food
In the wild, the broad-striped snail cichlid eats a wide range of small invertebrates. These include hopscotch , mosquito larvae , small shrimp and shellfish .
literature
- Heinz H. Büscher: A new cichlid from Lake Tanganyika. Neolamprologus similis n. Sp. In. DATZ , 2/92, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, ISSN 1616-3222 .
- Hans A. Baensch , Rüdiger Riehl : Aquarien Atlas, Volume 4. Mergus Verlag, 1996, ISBN 3-88244-105-4 .
- Sven Haustein: Snail cichlids from Lake Tanganyika / Neolamprologus similis - observations in the aquarium. In: VDA-aktuell , 3-2014, association journal of the Association of German Associations for Aquarium and Terrarium Studies eV (VDA),
Web links
- Broad-striped snail cichlid on Fishbase.org (English)