Docimodus
| Docimodus | ||||||||||||
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Docimodus johnstoni , head profile and teeth |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Docimodus | ||||||||||||
| Boulenger , 1897 |
Docimodus ( Gr .: "Dochmos" = oblique, crooked + "odon" = tooth) is a genus from the family of cichlids (Cichlidae) that occurs in Eastern Africa in Lake Malawi , Lake Malombes and the Upper Shire .
features
Docimodus species reach lengths of 20 to 25 cm and have an elongated body that is about three times as long as it is high. The head profile is rounded. The teeth are characteristic of the genus. Both jaws have three to five rows of teeth. The teeth are single-pointed or three-pointed, those of the outer row are broad, strong and curved inward.
Docimodus species are gray to beige in color. A dark longitudinal stripe extends from the "nape" to the upper area of the tail peduncle. Young specimens eat growth and plankton and are also active as cleaner fish , while the adult specimens eat scales and fins. Their victims are larger fish, especially catfish (genera Bagrus and Clarias ). Like almost all cichlids in Lake Malawi, the Docimodus species are mouthbrooders .
species
- Docimodus evelynae Eccles & Lewis, 1976
- Docimodus johnstoni Boulenger, 1897
literature
- George Albert Boulenger , 1897a. Descriptions of new fishes from the upper Shiré River, British Central Africa, collected by Dr. Percy Rendall, and presented to the British Museum by Sir Harry H. Johnston, KCB Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1896 (part 4): 915-920 & Plate 47 (1897). ( Initial description )
- Erwin Schraml: Docimodus Boulenger, 1896. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 331.
Web links
- Docimodus on Fishbase.org (English)