Eclectochromis
| Eclectochromis | ||||||||||||
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Eclectochromis ornatus |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Eclectochromis | ||||||||||||
| Eccles & Trewavas , 1989 |
Eclectochromis ( gr ... "Eklekto" = selected + "chromis" = old Bez for cichlids) is a cichlid - genus , which is endemic in the East African Lake Malawi occurs.
features
Eclectochromis species are about 20 cm long and have the typical shape of a Haplochromis relative. Males are bluish, females silvery gray to brownish. Characteristic of the genus are the strong, thickened lips that are hooked up and down at the tip of the mouth. The pattern of dark, vertical and horizontal stripes typical of many cichlids in Lake Malawi is not very well developed in Eclectochromis . Eclectochromis species have 12 to 15 gill rakes .
Way of life
Eclectochromis species live on the rocky coast over mixed soils, sometimes in sandy zones. The thick lips are related to the diet and are probably used to grope for small animals in the growth . When fishing in sandy areas, the lips are less or hardly thickened. Eclectochromis species are mouthbrooders . Two other species in Lake Malawi, with a similar way of life, are Abactochromis labrosus and Cheilochromis euchilus .
species
There are two types described and generally recognized today:
- Eclectochromis lobochilus (Trewavas, 1935)
- Eclectochromis ornatus ( Regan , 1922) ( type species )
The British ichthyologists David Henry Eccles and Ethelwynn Trewavas , who introduced the genus Eclectochromis in 1989, also assign Placidochromis milomo , which also has enlarged lips, to the genus Eclectochromis . There are also two so far undescribed species: Eclectochromis "Hertae" (from Likoma and Chisumulu Island) and Eclectochromis "Thick Lip Mbenji" (Mbenji Islands).
literature
- Andreas Spreinat: Lake Malawi cichlids from Tanzania. Dähne Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3-9261-4242-1
Web links
- Eclectochromis on Fishbase.org (English)