Buccochromis

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Buccochromis
Buccochromis lepturus

Buccochromis lepturus

Systematics
Ovalentaria
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Haplochromini
Genre : Buccochromis
Scientific name
Buccochromis
Eccles & Trewavas , 1989

Buccochromis ( Gr .: "Bucca" = cheek, cheek + chromis (genus of damselfish , in which cichlids were also described in the past)) is a genus of African cichlids (Cichlidae). They are endemic in Lake Malawi ,in Lake Malombes and in the Upper Shire in East Africa and live there as piscivorous predatory fish.

features

Buccochromis species are large-headed and elongated. They reach body lengths of 23 to 41 cm. The mouth is covered with numerous, closely spaced teeth. They are two-pointed in juvenile fish and single-pointed in adult fish. Characteristic of the genus is a dark, more or less clearly visible melanin strip that runs from the "neck" to the base of the caudal fin. The egg spots on the anal fin of the animals are simple, with no border deviating from the color. The sexes are colored differently.

Like most cichlids in Lake Malawi, all Buccochromis species are oviphilic mouthbrooders . They occur predominantly over the sand zones and feed mainly on smaller sand cichlids and juvenile fish. Only Buccochromis heterotaenia lives on the rocky coasts and searches for food in groups.

species

There are seven types, some of which are difficult to distinguish from one another.

literature

  • DH Eccles, E. Trewavas (1989): Malawian cichlid fishes. The classification of some Haplochromine genera. Lake Fish Movies, HW Dieckhoff, West Germany. 1-334.
  • Erwin Schraml: Buccochromis. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , pp. 176-178.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Buccochromis heterotaenia on Fishbase.org (English)

Web links

Commons : Buccochromis  - collection of images, videos and audio files