Mozambique cichlid

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Mozambique cichlid
Pair in brood color (male left)

Pair in brood color (male left)

Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Oreochromini
Genre : Oreochromis
Type : Mozambique cichlid
Scientific name
Oreochromis mossambicus
( Peters , 1852)

The Mozambique or white-throated cichlid ( Oreochromis mossambicus , syn .: Sarotherodon mossambicus , Tilapia mossambica ) is a species of fish from the cichlid family (Cichlidae) that occurs in southeastern and southern Africa. Its distribution area includes the lower Zambezi and lower Shiré , the Limpopo and the waters of the coastal plain from the Zambezi Delta to the Algoa Bay near Port Elizabeth in South Africa. As an edible fish , it is bred in aquaculture in many other countries, has escaped in many countries and has established free-ranging populations.

features

Oreochromis mossambicus can reach a maximum length of 39 cm and weigh over 1 kg. Its body is covered by cycloid scales and has a moderately high back, the body height is 36 to 49.5% of the standard length . The head reaches 32.3 to 37% of the standard length in females, in males it is slightly longer (34 to 39% of the standard length). The top of the head is covered by relatively large scales, two between the eyes, followed by a series of nine scales to the beginning of the dorsal fin. The snout is long, especially older males develop a clearly pointed, duck-bill-like snout with a concave snout profile and protruding teeth. The jaws are covered with three to five rows of slender teeth. In juvenile fish, the teeth of the outer row are two-pointed, those of the inner rows are three-pointed. As growth progresses, the teeth in the outer row are replaced by single-pointed teeth; in very large individuals, those in the inner rows can also be single-pointed. The teeth on the pharyngealia are very fine and pointed. In adult fish, the edentulous area of ​​the pharyngealia is longer than the dentate. The number of rakes on the lower gill arch bone is between 14 and 20.

Young fish are silvery with 6 to 7 transverse bands and three spots on the flanks. A brightly circled tilapia spot shows up to a length of 8 cm. Adult females and males not guarding a brood are silvery-olive or deep blue-gray. Your transverse ligaments have disappeared or broken up into three or four spots on the upper sides of the body and two to five on the middle sides. The dorsal and caudal fins have red edges. Brooding males are black to blue-black, with a white underside of the head, a scarlet-red rimmed dorsal and caudal fin and red pectoral fins.

Way of life

The Mozambique cichlid is found in fresh and brackish water , especially in protected estuaries and coastal lakes. It is also known from marine lagoons and atolls. He avoids fast flowing waters, waters at great heights above sea ​​level , large lakes and open river mouths. It can also get by with a low oxygen content in the water.

Normally the Mozambique cichlid becomes sexually mature with a length of 15 cm, stunted ones that grow up under poor conditions can reproduce at the age of two months with a length of 6 to 7 cm. Like all Oreochromis species, the Mozambique cichlid is an ovophilic mouthbrooder in which the breeding business is only carried out by the female. The fertility is high.

The Mozambique cichlid is considered an aggressive predatory fish that hunts other fish species.

literature

  • Melanie Stiassny, Guy Teugels & Carl D. Hopkins: The Fresh and Brackish Water Fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa. Volume 1, ISBN 9789074752206

Web links

Commons : Oreochromis mossambicus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Helen K. Larson, Duncan Buckle, Jessica Lynas, Andrew Storey, Chris Humphrey: Additional records of freshwater fishes from Timor-Leste, with notes on the fish fauna of the unique closed Irasiquero River system , The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, 2007 23: 131-135 .