Lates microlepis
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Drawing from the first description |
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| Boulenger , 1898 |
Lates microlepis is apredatory fish from the subfamily of giant perch (Latinae)livingin Lake Tanganyika in East Africaand in Lukuga , the outflow from Lake Tanganyika to the Congo .
features
Lates microlepis is a maximum of 93 cm long and can reach a maximum weight of 8.3 kg. Lates microlepis has a typical giant perch shape with a high trunk, two separate dorsal fins and a flattened head with a wide mouth. The caudal fin is slightly indented. Young fish have a golden yellow base color, their tail fin is spotted. Adult fish are silvery.
Way of life
Lates microlepis lives as a young fish up to a length of about 18 cm closer to the coast, between aquatic plants and in river mouths, as a fully grown predatory fish in open water. It feeds piscivor mainly on the herring Stolothrissa tanganicae, which is endemic there .
Danger
The stock of Lates microlepis has declined by more than 50% in the last 20 years due to overfishing and is assessed by the IUCN as endangered.
literature
- Luc De Vos and Jos Snoeks: The non-cichlids of the Tanganyika basin. in DATZ special issue Tanganyika, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 1998, ISSN 1616-3222
supporting documents
- ^ Sven O. Kullander and Tyson R. Roberts: Out of Lake Tanganyika: endemic lake fishes inhabit rapids of the Lukuga River. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 22, No. December 4, 2011 © 2011 by Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, Germany - ISSN 0936-9902
Web links
- Lates angustifrons on Fishbase.org (English)
- Lates microlepis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Ntakimazi, G., 2006. Accessed August 18, 2012th