Petrotilapia
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Petrotilapia | ||||||||||||
| Trewavas , 1935 |
Petrotilapia is a cichlid - genus from the group of Mbuna , the endemic in the East African Malawisee occurs.
features
Petrotilapia species are 10.5 to 17 cm long and have a typical Mbuna shape. In the first description , the British ichthyologist Ethelwynn Trewavas noticed the similarity to the genus Petrochromis occurring in Lake Tanganyika , which is why she obviously chose a similar scientific name. She stated as a diagnostic feature for the new genus that all teeth are three-pointed. The generic diagnosis was later changed that only the teeth on the most important tooth-bearing regions of the jawbone need to be three-pointed. The motivation for this was to be able to include species in the genus whose teeth, standing in one or two rows on the sides of the jaw, have only one point. Petrotilapia species have broad, fleshy lips and use their numerous, comb-like teeth to pick up diatoms and other unicellular algae from the growth. The front teeth are visible from the outside even when the mouth is closed.
Dominant Petrotilapia males are territorial . Non-dominant males, females and fry live in small schools. Like almost all cichlids in Lake Malawi, they are mouthbrooders .
species
Ten species have been described so far:
- Petrotilapia chrysos Stauffer & van Snik, 1996
- Petrotilapia flaviventris Lundeba, Stauffer & Konings, 2011
- Petrotilapia genalutea Marsh, 1983
- Petrotilapia microgalana Ruffing, Lambert & Stauffer, 2006
- Petrotilapia mumboensis Lundeba, Stauffer & Konings, 2011
- Petrotilapia nigra Marsh, 1983
- Petrotilapia palingnathos Lundeba, Stauffer & Konings, 2011
- Petrotilapia pyroscelos Lundeba, Stauffer & Konings, 2011
- Petrotilapia tridentiger Trewavas, 1935 ( type species )
- Petrotilapia xanthos Lundeba, Stauffer & Konings, 2011
literature
- Mary Lundeba: Taxonomic study of the genus Petrotilapia Trewavas 1935 (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi, Africa. 2012, ISBN 978-1249889946
- Mary Lundeba, Jay R. Stauffer & Ad Konings: Five new species of the genus Petrotilapia (Teleostei: Cichlidae), from Lake Malawi, Africa . Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 149 © 2011 by Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, Germany - ISSN 0936-9902
- Jay R. Stauffer, Jr. & Ellen S. van Snik: New Species of Petrotilapia (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi, Africa. Copeia Vol. 1996, No. 3 (1996)
Web links
- Petrotilapia on Fishbase.org (English)