Furu

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As Furu the East African are Victoria endemic living cichlids (Cichlidae), respectively. They all belong to the Haplochromini tribe and, with the exception of Astatoreochromis, are more closely related to one another than to the Haplochromini of other lakes. They are an example of very fast adaptive radiation . The lake dried up 12,000 years ago. After it filled up with water again, only one to five original species are said to have colonized the new lake, which quickly diverged .

Haplochromis thereuterion in the Berlin Aquarium

Appearance

Males are often very colorful, while the females usually have a simpler light or yellowish color with dark horizontal stripes. All Furu are mouthbrooders .

nutrition

The Furu mainly adapted to different food sources and developed different mouth shapes and tooth types. Among other things, one differentiates:

  • Fish eater (at least 130 species)
  • Algae eaters (at least 45 species)
  • Leaf eater
  • Insectivores (at least 29 species)
  • Broodeater (at least 24 species)
  • Snail eater (at least 9 species, including Astatoreochromis, bite the snail shell, at least 12 species tear the snail with elongated, curved teeth out of the shell)
  • Zooplankton eaters (at least 21 species)
  • Shrimp eater (at least 13 species)
  • Mud sifter (at least 13 species)
  • Cleaner fish (2 species)
  • Scale eater (1 species)

Ecological disaster

It was estimated that up to 500 species of cichlids lived in the lake. In the 1950s, the Nile perch ( Lates niloticus ) was put into the lake as a food fish that could be used commercially . This turned out to be an ecological disaster because the Nile perch made the cichlids their preferred prey. In the 1970s to 1990s, species became extinct faster and faster, even before they could be scientifically described. Nevertheless, more than 400 species of cichlids were described in Lake Victoria by 1995 . Some furu species only live in human care. Zoos and aquarists strive to at least keep them in captivity.

Genera and sub-genera of Haplochromis

  • Astatoreochromis
  • Haplochromis
    • Astatotilapia
    • Enterochromis
    • Harpagochromis
    • Paralabidochromis
    • Labrochromis
    • Lipochromis
    • Lithochromis
    • Neochromis
    • Prognathochromis
    • Psammochromis
    • Ptyochromis
    • Xystochromis
    • Yssochromis
  • Hoplotilapia
  • Macropleur mode
  • Mbipia
  • Platytaeniodus
  • Pundamilia
  • Pyxichromis

literature

  • Tijs Goldschmidt: Darwin's dream lake. News from my research trip to Africa . CH Beck, Munich 1997

Web links