Copadichromis borleyi
| Copadichromis borleyi | ||||||||||||
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Copadichromis borleyi , male |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Copadichromis borleyi | ||||||||||||
| ( Iles , 1960) |
Copadichromis borleyi ( synonym : Haplochromis borleyi ) is a species of cichlid that is endemic to the East African Lake Malawi . The species was named in honor of the ichthyologist HJH Borley.
features
The fish species can reach a length of 17 cm, females stay significantly smaller. It has a relatively short body that is quite high back for Malawi cichlids. Adult males are strikingly blue in color. On the sides of the body and on the tail stalk, each scale has an orange spot, so that the color of the flanks and tail stalk changes to dark orange overall. The dorsal fin is dark blue and has a wide, white to white-blue border. The anal fin is dark blue with a white-blue or yellow border and egg spots. The pelvic fins are long, white-blue on the front edge and otherwise blackish to yellowish and sooty superimposed. Adult females are gray-brown and in most cases have transparent fins. The pelvic fins, and in some cases the unpaired fins, can also be yellowish or orange.
- Fins formula : dorsal XVIII / 11–12, anal III / 9–10.
- Scale formula : mLR 33–35.
Way of life
Copadichromis borleyi lives at depths of 5 to 20 meters and feeds on plankton. The males, loyal to their location, have territories , the center of which is often formed by a rock spike. The top and the adjacent, sloping and vertical rock walls, usually an area of at least 2 × 2 meters, are defended against the district neighbors with imposing and threatening behavior. Females also live in small wandering groups of three to eight animals near the rocks. Like all haplochromine cichlids, Copadichromis borleyi is an ovophilic mouthbrooder in which the female takes care of the brood. To spawn , the males build a small sand funnel on top of the rock. Around 60 fry are born per brood.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Andreas Spreinat: Lake Malawi cichlids from Tanzania. Unitext Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3-926142-42-1 , pp. 62-63.
- ↑ a b Günther Sterba : Freshwater fish of the world. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 , pp. 755-756.
- ↑ Copadichromis borleyi on Fishbase.org (English)
