Letourneux 'red cichlid
| Letourneux 'red cichlid | ||||||||||||
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Letourneux's red cichlid ( Hemichromis letourneauxi ) |
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| Hemichromis letourneauxi | ||||||||||||
| Sauvage , 1880 |
Letourneux's red cichlid ( Hemichromis letourneauxi ) is a small species of African cichlid that is found in northern and western Africa. It occurs in the Nile (Egypt and Sudan), Algeria, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, the Central African Republic and possibly in the states in between.
description
Letourneux 'red cichlid grows to a maximum of 12 cm long and has an oval, light to medium brown body. The back is a little darker. The head profile is straight, but in older specimens it is slightly indented above the forehead. A larger, dark and bright halo, large spot on each side of the body and a smaller spot on each side of the base of the tail are clearly formed. Bluish iridescent spots may or may not be present all over the body. The dorsal fin has a red edge, the upper edge of the caudal fin is red. The lips are colored bright red. The first rays of the pelvic fins are reddish. Dominant animals get an intense reddish color all over their body, while stressed animals show dark transverse bands on the sides.
- Fin formula : Dorsal XIII – XV / 10–12, Anale III / 8–9.
- Scale formula 16-17 / 7-11 (SL), 25-27 (mLR).
Way of life
Letourneux's red cichlid lives in the waters of open landscapes, e.g. B. from savannas, is extremely tolerant with regard to the water values and still reproduces in residual ponds with a diameter of half a meter, a water depth of 10 cm and a water temperature of 34 ° C. The species occurs both in soft water and in waters with higher salinity . The fish live mainly near the shore between aquatic plants and feed on insects and shrimps ( Caridina ). Letourneux Red Cichlid is an open breeder and forms a male-mother family , in which the female is largely responsible for brood care, while the male defends the territory.
Letourneux's red cichlid has been released to other countries by aquarists, and stocks of the species are now found in Florida , the Hawaiian island of Oahu and the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico . In addition, a Hemichromis species released by humans is released in a stream fed by the Warmbader springs near Villach (Austria) and has formed a reproductive population there. It was determined by the Austrian ichthyologist Anton Lamboj as Letourneux 'red cichlid.
Systematics
Letourneux 'red cichlid was first scientifically described in 1880 by the French ichthyologist Henri-Émile Sauvage and named after Letourneaux, a French fish collector. It was immediately placed in the genus Hemichromis and belongs there to the group of "red cichlids". Hemichromis exsul from Lake Turkana is understood by Paul Loiselle and Lamboj as a synonym description of Hemichromis letourneauxi , but is now mostly considered an independent species. Hemichromis saharae from the vicinity of Touggourt in the Algerian Sahara, in Lamboj and in the Catalog of Fishes is still controversial a synonym of Hemichromis letourneauxi , but a valid species at Fishbase.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Hemichromis letourneauxi on Fishbase.org (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f Anton Lamboj: The cichlids of western Africa. Publisher: Natur und Tier, 2006, ISBN 386-659000-8 , pages 113-115.
- ↑ a b Günther Sterba : Süsswasserfische der Welt , Urania-Verlag, 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 , page 762.
- ↑ Invasive Species Compendium Hemichromis letourneuxi (African jewelfish)
- ↑ Jürgen Petutschnig, Wolfgang Honsig-Erlenburg, Reinhard Pekny: To the current crayfish and fish occurrence of the Warmbach in Villach. Carinthia II, 198./118. Year, Klagenfurt 2008, pp. 95-102 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
- ↑ Hemichromis exsul on Fishbase.org (English)
- ↑ Hemichromis exsul in the Catalog of Fishes (English)
- ↑ Hemichromis saharae in the Catalog of Fishes (English)
- ↑ Hemichromis saharae on Fishbase.org (English)