Limbochromis robertsi
| Limbochromis robertsi | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Limbochromis | ||||||||||||
| Greenwood , 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Limbochromis robertsi | ||||||||||||
| ( Thys van den Audenaerde & Loiselle , 1971) |
Limbochromis robertsi is a species of African cichlid that is endemic to two small areas in Ghana . One is southwest of Kumasi , the other in the extreme southwest of Ghana.
features
Limbochromis robertsi becomes 8 (females) to 12 (males) centimeters long and has a slender, elongated body with a straight forehead profile and a pointed snout. The species differs from other cichlids of the Chromidotilapiini tribe in the relatively small number of scales around the tail stalk (individually different between 12 and 14 (12 in Enigmatochromis , 14–16 in Chromidotilapia and 16 in Benitochromis , Pelvicachromis and Thysochromis )), four pores of the sensory system on the lacrymale , four additional infraorbital bones (bones below the eyes) and a side line clearly separated from the base of the dorsal fin . The fish are gray to yellow-brown in color, the snout and throat are reddish. Depending on the mood, dark vertical stripes may be visible. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins of the males are densely patterned with red dots, in the females they are colorless to slightly yellowish and without a pattern. Only the dorsal and caudal fins have a shiny metallic band on the upper edge, lined with red at the top. The caudal fin of the females is slightly indented, that of the males forked.
Way of life
Limbochromis robertsi lives in small, shaded and fast flowing rainforest streams and feeds mainly on algae and detritus . Males are strongly territorial with great aggressiveness towards conspecifics and occupy territories that are on average 2 m². Limbochromis robertsi always spawns in caves. The hatched young fish are deposited by the male in pits on the bottom of the water, but also taken into the mouth by the female. The type thus is a breeding behavior between cavity nesters and larvophilem mouthbrooders .
literature
- Anton Lamboj: The cichlids of western Africa. Publisher: Natur und Tier, 2006, ISBN 386-659000-8
- Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staek: African cichlids I, cichlids from West Africa. Tetra-Verlag, Bissendorf 1997, ISBN 3-89356-151-X .
Web links
- Limbochromis robertsi on Fishbase.org (English)
- photos