Dimidiochromis
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dimidiochromis | ||||||||||||
| Eccles & Trewavas , 1989 |
Dimidiochromis is a genus of African cichlids (Cichlidae). They are endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa and live there as piscivorous predatory fish.
features
Dimidiochromis species are large-headed, elongated and laterally strongly flattened. They become 20 to 30 cm long. Characteristic of the genus are the protruding, deep lower jaw with a pronounced chin, as well as the conspicuous longitudinal ligament in the middle of the body sides, which is indicated by the scientific name of the genus ( Latin : "dimidiatus" = divided into two halves + Chromis (genus of damselfish , in which cichlids were also described earlier)).
Like most cichlids of Lake Malawi are the Dimidiochromis TYPES oviphile mouthbrooders . They occur predominantly over the sand zones and feed mainly on smaller sand cichlids and juvenile fish.
species
There are four types, some of which are difficult to distinguish from one another.
- Dimidiochromis compressiceps ( Boulenger , 1908)
- Dimidiochromis dimidiatus ( Günther , 1864)
- Dimidiochromis kiwinge ( Ahl , 1926)
- Dimidiochromis strigatus ( Regan , 1922)
literature
- Eccles, DH & E. Trewavas (1989): Malawian cichlid fishes. The classification of some Haplochromine genera. Lake Fish Movies, HW Dieckhoff, West Germany. 1-334.
- Ad Konings, 2004: The Cichlids of the Genus Dimidiochromis. Cichlid News, v. 13, (n. 3), pp. 6-12.
Web links
- Dimidiochromis on Fishbase.org (English)