Melanochromis loriae

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Melanochromis loriae
Adult male

Adult male

Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Haplochromini
Genre : Melanochromis
Type : Melanochromis loriae
Scientific name
Melanochromis loriae
Johnson , 1975
Females at Likoma

Melanochromis loriae ( Syn . : M. parallelus , Burgess & Axelrod, 1976 ) is an African cichlid species that is endemic to the west coast of the southern part of Lake Malawi . It is completely absent on the east coast of the lake. Melanochromis loriae lives on the rocky shore zone - also on the islands and on rocky reefs - and is one of the Mbunas .

features

Melanochromis loriae reaches a maximum length of 11.5 cm and is slender; the mean largest body height, approximately at the base of the ninth ray of the dorsal fin, is 35% of the standard length . The dorsal profile is curved and falls off more and more towards the caudal peduncle, in some specimens also abruptly towards the rear end of the dorsal fin. The profile of the abdomen is almost straight to slightly convex between the pelvic fins and anus and rises towards the tail peduncle. The head profile is rounded. Both jaws are covered with 5 to 7 wide rows of teeth, the teeth of the outermost row each having two tips that are of different sizes, those of the inner rows are three-pointed. Some single-pointed teeth are at the meeting point of the outermost and innermost rows of teeth. In the females, the end of the dorsal fin is rounded and does not extend to the caudal fin, in the males it is slightly pointed and extends to the caudal fin base. The pelvic fins are short and do not reach the beginning of the anal fin. The pectoral fins are rounded and reach up to an imaginary, vertical line between the eleventh and twelfth dorsal fin ray. The scales on the sides of the body are comb scales and are relatively large. They become abruptly smaller towards the throat. There are five, sometimes four rows of small scales at the top. 75 to 90% of the caudal fin are scaled. All other fins are bare.

With the exception of Melanochromis melanopterus , M. lepidiadaptes and M. kaskazini , the females and juveniles of Melanochromis loriae differ from their relatives by a cream-colored body (yellow to brown in the relatives), two black longitudinal stripes on the sides of the body, one lined with black Dorsal fin and black pattern on the lower caudal fin section. Melanochromis loriae differs from M. melanopterus and M. kaskazini in that it has a shorter lower jaw (31.9 to 35.2% of the head length vs. 37.2 to 41.7% for M. melanopterus and 36.4 to 44.6% in M. kaskazini ) and M. lepidiadaptes due to a higher number of rows of teeth in the jaw (5 to 7 vs. 2 or 3). In reproductive males, the color is exactly the opposite; on a dark basic color there are two light blue vertical stripes on each side of the body. They differ from the males of their relatives, with the exception of M. melanopterus , M. simulans and M. robustus , by a broad black band on the hard-radiating section of the dorsal fin. M. melanopterus and Melanochromis simulans have a longer mandible than Melanochromis loriae (40% of the head length in M. simulans ) and in M. robustus the tail peduncle is less high than in M. loriae (12.9 to 14.4% of the standard length vs. . 11.7 to 12.6%).

Way of life

Melanochromis loriae lives on rocky coasts with little sandy soil. The majority of the fish are found at depths of 5 to 20 meters. Like all Melanochromis species, Melanochromis loriae is an ovophilic mouthbrooder in which the female takes care of the brood.

literature

  • Adrianus F. Konings & Jay R. Stauffer, Jr .: Review of the Lake Malaŵi genus Melanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with a description of a new species. Zootaxa 3258, Apr. 2012, ISSN  1175-5334 PDF
  • Andreas Spreinat: Lake Malawi cichlids from Tanzania. Unitext Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3-926142-42-1

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