Neolamprologus furcifer

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Neolamprologus furcifer
Drawing from the first description by George Albert Boulenger

Drawing from the first description by George Albert Boulenger

Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Lamprologini
Genre : Neolamprologus
Type : Neolamprologus furcifer
Scientific name
Neolamprologus furcifer
( Boulenger , 1898)

Neolamprologus furcifer ( Syn . : Lamprologus furcifer ) is a cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika .

description

Neolamprologus furcifer becomes 15 cm long and has an elongated, laterally flattened body. The body is covered with comb scales, which are smaller and more numerous than comparable cichlids. On the sides of the body, 46 to 54 scales are counted in a central longitudinal row. The comb scales are strongly toothed and the teeth protrude from the surface of the scales. The scaling extends to the dorsal, anal and caudal fin. The dorsal fin has 20 spiny rays, the anal fin five to seven. The sensory system, consisting of the upper and lower sideline , as well as sensory pores on the head, is well developed. The basic color of Neolamprologus furcifer is variable and can be gray to beige, clay brown, copper brown or dark purple. Depending on your mood, they can show six dark transverse bands on the sides of the body. The iris is light blue to golden yellow in color. Outwardly, males and females can hardly be distinguished. However, older males get a hump on the back of their head. The deeply forked caudal fin ends in two long tips, especially in older fish ( furcifer = to carry fork).

Way of life

Neolamprologus furcifer lives in the shallow water of Lake Tanganyika on rocky coasts and has a similarly strong bond with rock biotopes as the Chalinochromis and Julidochromis species. They swim upside down on cave ceilings, upside down or upside down on steep rocks. So they can stay for a long time, always staying close to the rock. They are possibly nocturnal, as indicated by the large eyes, and only show up in shaded areas during the day. The fish feed mainly on insect larvae and small crustaceans. They are substrate spawners and the females lay their around 50 eggs per clutch on cave ceilings. Males are polygamous and have a harem of five or six females.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Pierre Brichard: The Great Book of Tanganyika Cichlids. With all the other fish on Lake Tanganyika. Bede Verlag GmbH. 1995, ISBN 978-3927997943 , page 372.
  2. ↑ a b Wolfgang Staeck, Horst Linke: African cichlids, cichlids from East Africa. Tetra Verlag, 1981, ISBN 3-8974-5103-4 , pages 99-100.
  3. ↑ a b Pierre Brichard: The Great Book of Tanganyika Cichlids. With all the other fish on Lake Tanganyika. Bede Verlag GmbH. 1995, ISBN 978-3927997943 , pages 343-346.
  4. ↑ Neolamprologus furcifer on Fishbase.org (English)

further reading

  • Sven O. Kullander, Michael Norén, Mikael Karlsson and Magnus Karlsson: Description of Neolamprologus timidus , new species, and review of N. furcifer from Lake Tanganyika (Teleostei: Cichlidae) Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 24, No. 4301 Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 301–328, 11 figs., 10 tabs., April 2014 © 2014 by Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, Germany - ISSN  0936-9902 , PDF