Maylandia estherae

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Maylandia estherae
Male of a red morph

Male of a red morph

Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Haplochromini
Genre : Maylandia
Type : Maylandia estherae
Scientific name
Maylandia estherae
( Konings , 1995)

Maylandia estherae ( Syn .: Pseudotropheus estherae , Metriaclima estherae ) is an African cichlid that is endemic to the east coast of the East African Lake Malawi , especially on the Mozambican section of the coast. The distribution area extends only a little south of the border to Malawi. Maylandia estherae belongs to the Mbuna and lives on the rocky coasts of the lake. Like other mbuna, it feeds on algae and is a mouthbrooder . Since the species suffers greatly from being caught in the aquarium, it is considered endangered (Vulnerable).

Systematics

The cichlid was not scientifically described as Pseudotropheus estherae until 1995 by the Dutch ichthyologist Ad Konings , but was already known in the aquarium hobby and was considered the red color morph of Pseudotropheus zebra (today Maylandia zebra ). Since both cichlids appear sympatric , the “red zebra” was finally declared an independent species and named after Esther Grant, the wife of the ornamental fish exporter Stuart Grant. The type locality is the Minos Reef 7 km off the Mozambican coast. The type specimens are kept in the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren , Belgium .

female

features

Maylandia estherae becomes a maximum of 11 to 13 centimeters long, but usually remains at a length of no more than 10 centimeters. The standard length is 2.6 to 3.1 times the body height and 3 to 3.3 times the head length. The mouth is terminal, with the lower jaw protruding slightly. In both jaws, the teeth are close together in three to four rows. The teeth of the outer row are two-pointed, those of the inner row are three-pointed. Some teeth are visible even when the mouth is closed. This, the thicker lips and the coloring distinguish Maylandia estherae from the morphologically very similar species Maylandia callainos . On the lower section of the anterior gill arch there are 11 to 13 gill rakes . On the sides of the body there are 30 to 31 scales in a middle row. The dorsal fin is supported by 16 to 17 spine rays and 9 to 10 soft rays, while the anal fin has 3 spine rays and 8 soft rays.

In contrast to almost all other cichlids from the Maylandia genus , Maylandia estherae shows no or barely visible horizontal stripes on the sides of the body. At the rear edge of the dorsal fin of the males, however, there are some eye-spots reminiscent of the egg-spots of the anal fin, a feature that is not known in any other described Maylandia species apart from the OB morph of Maylandia zebra .

Maylandia estherae is a polymorphic species that occurs in several color morphs.

  • B-Morphe: The males are blue to light blue with an indicated horizontal stripe pattern. The females are simply dark brown or brown-beige (this morph is largely unknown in the aquarium hobby because it is hardly exported).
  • O-Morphe: the males are pink to whitish, the females are bright orange to red in color. The fins, too, with the exception of the pectoral fins, are orange.
  • OB morph: males and females are spotted orange-black.

The fin tips of the pelvic fins and the anal fin are mostly bluish in all color forms. There are up to eleven yellow egg spots on the anal fin.

Way of life

Maylandia estherae lives on the rocky coast with little or no sediment, most specimens above a depth of ten meters. The males are territorial and defend territories that have a diameter of about one meter. The fish feed on the algae growth on the rocks, while they eat at an angle of about 90 ° to the substrate. Like almost all cichlids in Lake Malawi, they are mouthbrooders.

literature

Web links

Commons : Maylandia estherae  - collection of images, videos and audio files