Lufubuchromis relictus

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Lufubuchromis relictus
Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Haplochromini
Genre : Lufubuchromis
Type : Lufubuchromis relictus
Scientific name of the  genus
Lufubuchromis
Schedel , Kupriyanov , Katongo & Schliewen , 2020
Scientific name of the  species
Lufubuchromis relictus
Schedel, Kupriyanov, Katongo & Schliewen, 2020

Lufubuchromis relictus is a species of cichlid that occurs in the upper Lufubu , a tributary of Lake Tanganyika in northern Zambia .

features

The specimens examined for the initial description had a standard length of 33.7 to 93.2 millimeters and an overall length of 42.5 to 113 millimeters. Outwardly, Lufubuchromis relictus resembles the closely related Pseudocrenilabrus species. The basic color of the males is light brown to olive gray, the back, the dorsal fin and the top of the head are olive to light brown. The lower head parts, the throat, the chest and adjacent parts of the body are colored purple. The remaining sections of the sides of the body and the tail stalk are bluish. The iris is brownish with some light brown or orange spots. There is a blackish, golden or greenish shimmering spot on the gill cover. The upper lip is metallic blue, the lower lip metallic blue or whitish. The Branchiostegalmembranen are whitish to light gray. The dorsal fin is lined with orange, its soft-rayed section is dotted bluish. The anal fin is olive to yellowish and also has bluish dots. The caudal fin is also olive to yellowish. Their coloring becomes less and less intense towards the reddish fringed end. The pectoral fins are transparent or slightly yellowish. The pelvic fins are light yellow or gray.

Females are light brown to olive gray in color and far less colored than the males. The throat and abdomen are beige or whitish. On the sides of the body they show 6 to 8 vertical, brownish stripes. As with the males, the iris is brownish with some light brown or orange spots. The lips and the spot on the gill cover also show the same color as the males, but less intense. The fins are the same color as the males but not clearly spotted.

Both sexes have a Pseudocrenilabrus spot on the outer end of the anal fin, a feature that is typical of the Pseudocrenilabrus species group, but otherwise only occurs in adult males.

  • Fins formula: dorsal XIV-XVI / 9-11, anal III / 7-9, ventral I / 5, pectoral 13-14, caudal 26-28.
  • Dandruff formula: mLR 26-30, SL 18-22 / 9-12.

Habitat and way of life

Lufubuchromis relictus is only known from the upper reaches of the Lufubu and its tributaries and the flowing streams. These waters flow through a high plateau in the north-west of Zambia. There are numerous rapids and waterfalls between the upper and lower Lufubu, so that the ichthyofauna is clearly different. The Lufubu flows into the southern Lake Tanganyika. The Mululwe, the terra typica , is a river about 15 meters wide with an estimated depth of half a meter. The ground is rocky and also has zones with sand or rubble. Partly there are stocks of water lilies ( Nymphaea sp.). Lufubuchromis relictus probably feeds mainly on insect larvae and detritus . The species is a mouth brooder in which the female takes care of the brood. In specimens kept in aquariums, the clutch size was 20 to 30 eggs and it took 18 to 20 days from egg-laying to hatching of the larvae. In the wild, mouth-brooding females form groups.

Systematics

The first description of the species and monotypical genus was published in January 2020. Its authors include the ichthyologists Frederic DB Schedel and Ulrich Kurt Schliewen from the Zoological State Collection in Munich , as well as their Zambian colleague Cyprian Katongo, who has already published numerous papers on the Pseudocrenilabrus species group. Within the cichlids, Lufubuchromis relictus belongs to the tribe Haplochromini and there to the Pseudocrenilabrus species group, which differs from other Haplochromini by a color-contrasting spot ( Pseudocrenilabrus spot) on the outer end of the anal fin of adult males. However, since the species differs from Pseudocrenilabrus in some morphological and morphometric features , a new genus was introduced. This was named after the Lufubu, the addition chromis actually denotes a species of damselfish , but is also used in the names of numerous species of cichlids. The species epithet relictus refers to the isolated distribution of the species on a geologically ancient plateau, as well as to the basal position that the species occupies together with Orthochromis kalungwishiensis within the Pseudocrenilabrus species group.

supporting documents

  1. a b c d e Frederic DB Schedel, Viviane MS Kupriyanov, Cyprian Katongo & Ulrich Kurt Schliewen (2020): Palaeoplex gen. Nov. and Lufubuchromis gen. nov., two new monotypic cichlid genera (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from northern Zambia. In: Zootaxa , Volume 4718, No. 2, pp 191-229. doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4718.2.3