Myaka myaka
| Myaka myaka | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Myaka | ||||||||||||
| Trewavas in Trewavas , Green & Corbet , 1972 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Myaka myaka | ||||||||||||
| Trewavas , 1972 |
Myaka myaka is a species of fish from the cichlid family (Cichlidae). It is endemic to the Barombi Mbo volcanic lakein Western Cameroon. The species was named after a local name for these cichlids.
features
Myaka myaka has a typical cichlid shape and is about 8 cm long, making it the smallest cichlid species of the Barombi Mbo. The fish are gray-green in color and have yellow pelvic fins. During the breeding season, the males turn deep blue-black. Only the golden iris then contrasts with the body color. The mouth is inclined upwards, at an angle of 50 ° to the horizontal. It is set with two rows of teeth, the outer teeth are small and few in number, the inner ones are three-pointed. The lower pharyngealia is significantly longer than it is wide, the small dentate area is covered with a field of thin, single-pointed teeth. The dorsal fin of the animals is supported by 14 to 15 spines and 10 to 12 soft rays. The number of spines in the anal fin is 3, those of the soft rays 8 to 10. The number of vertebrae is 28 to 29.
Way of life
Myaka myaka lives in the Barombi Mbo in open water at a water depth of ten meters and below. It eats tiny particles and feeds on phytoplankton , tufted mosquito larvae and detritus . The fish seek shallower regions to spawn. They are ovophilic mouthbrooders , which means that only the eggs are absorbed into the mouth, the fry no longer.
Danger
The species is on the IUCN as the extinction threatened ( Critically Endangered estimated). The danger lies in the increasing pollution and sedimentation of the Barombi Mbo, the associated increasing oxygen deficiency in the deep water regions and a sudden outgassing of carbon dioxide. Fishing in the lake is prohibited.
literature
- Anton Lamboj : Myaka myaka. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 664.
- Uli Schiewen: The cichlids of the Cameroon crater lakes. in DATZ , 3/92, ISSN 1616-3222
- Uli Schiewen: Diversity in the smallest of spaces - Cameroon's south-western province. in DATZ, 2/2003, ISSN 1616-3222
Web links
- Myaka myaka on Fishbase.org (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ IUCN Species Account (accessed October 7, 2011)