Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha
| Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha | ||||||||||||
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Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Hemitilapia | ||||||||||||
| Boulenger , 1902 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha | ||||||||||||
| Boulenger, 1902 |
Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha ( Gr .: “hemi” = half + tilapia ; “oxys” = sharp, pointed + “rhynchus” = snout), called “Vallisneria lollipop”, is an African cichlid species that is endemic to the East African Lake Malawi .
features
Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha can be 18 to 22 centimeters long, is high-backed and strongly flattened on the sides. Its body length is three times the length of the head and two and a half times the body height. The head is pointed, the mouth narrow and terminal. The head profile shows a kink at eye level. Above, the head profile rises more steeply to the dorsal fin base. There are four rows of scales on the "cheeks". On the lower section of the first gill arch there are twelve gill rakes .
Females are silver-gray with a slight brass-colored sheen and rounded dorsal and anal fin. Males are light blue with a metallic blue shimmering head and yellow to orange scales and seven to ten bandages on the sides of the body that are only occasionally visible. The males' dorsal and anal fins are pointed. Both sexes have three dark spots on the sides of the body, which are usually clearly visible in the females, while the males usually only show them in the frightening color.
- Fin formula : Dorsal XVI / 10-11; Anal III / 9.
Way of life
Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha is a typical inhabitant of the sandy bank overgrown with reed beds or water plants, especially Vallisneria . As a specialized growth eater, the species feeds on the vegetation on submerged plants. To do this, the fish lay on their side to grab the ribbon-like leaves of Vallisneria or other aquatic plants with their pointed mouths and literally suck them up, moving from bottom to top, to remove the algae and microorganisms that colonize the leaves. Like almost all cichlids in Lake Malawi, Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha is a mouthbrooder . The eggs are laid in shallow sand pits or on stones. Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha becomes sexually mature with a length of 7 centimeters.
literature
- George Albert Boulenger , 1902. Diagnoses of new cichlid fishes discovered by Mr. JES Moore in Lake Nyassa. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (7) 10: 69-71.
- Erwin Schraml: Hemitilapia oxyrhynchus. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 471.
Web links
- Hemitilapia oxyrhyncha on Fishbase.org (English)