Cyclopharynx
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cyclopharynx | ||||||||||||
| Poll , 1948 |
Cyclopharynx is a species of poor species from the family of cichlids (Cichlidae). Both species of the genus are endemic in the Fwa River inthe Sankuru river basin in the east ( Kasai-Oriental province) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
features
Cyclopharynx species are relatively small cichlids and grow to be 12 to 14 cm long, with males being slightly larger than females. Both types are very similar. They are relatively slender and moderately high-backed, similar to the species in the genus Pseudocrenilabrus . Your forehead profile is straight, the mouth tapers to a point. The jaws are mainly covered with three-pointed teeth, single-pointed teeth are rarer, double-pointed teeth do not occur. The females are inconspicuously brownish or gray-brown in color. Any drawing samples are missing. In the males, the anal fin is yellow and shows a few small, inconspicuous egg spots .
Way of life
Cyclopharynx species naturally feed on algae and diatoms . Like other haplochromine cichlids , they are ovophilic mouthbrooders in which the female takes care of the mouthbrood. To spawn, the males fan a shallow pit in the sand of the bottom of the water. The eggs are immediately taken into the mouth by the female during spawning and remain there for about three weeks. A clutch is relatively small and contains around 30 to 40 eggs that are 2 mm in diameter. After the juveniles swim free for the first time, the hatchery operation usually ceases. In rare cases, the fry are taken in the mouth for two or three days in dangerous situations or at night.
species
Today two species belong to the genus Cyclopharynx . Both differ mainly in the proportions of the lower pharynx bones , in addition, the mouth of C. fwae is more pointed and the species has no points on the caudal fin like C. schwetzi .
- Cyclopharynx fwae Poll , 1948
- Cyclopharynx schwetzi (Poll, 1948)
literature
- Anton Lamboj: The cichlids of western Africa. Publisher: Natur und Tier, 2006, ISBN 386-659000-8
Web links
- Cyclopharynx on Fishbase.org (English)