Rainbow cichlid
| Rainbow cichlid | ||||||||||||
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Rainbow cichlid ( Herotilapia multispinosa ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Herotilapia | ||||||||||||
| Pellegrin , 1904 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Herotilapia multispinosa | ||||||||||||
| ( Günther , 1867) |
The rainbow cichlid ( Herotilapia multispinosus , syn .: Archocentrus multispinosa ) is a small cichlid species that occurs in Central America. On the Caribbean side the distribution area extends from the Rio Patuca in Honduras to the Rio Matina in Costa Rica , on the Pacific side from the Rio Guasaule in Nicaragua to the Rio Tempisque and Rio Bebedero in Costa Rica. In Europe there is a reproductive population in the thermal lake of Hévíz in Hungary.
features
The rainbow cichlid becomes 12 to 17 centimeters long. Females stay smaller than males. The body is highly oval and flattened on the sides. The rainbow cichlid differs from all other herichthyinen cichlids of Central America by its flattened, three-pointed teeth, an adaptation to the grazing of thread algae. The mouth is terminal. A round or more or less angular dark spot lies below the upper side line just behind the center of the body. From this spot a dark, irregular stripe runs over the gill cover to the eye.
- Fin formula : dorsal XVII / 9, anal X / 7
Way of life
The rainbow cichlid lives in rivers, lakes and swamps with muddy soil, can withstand high temperatures and thus survive even in small bodies of water during the dry season. It feeds mainly on thread algae and detritus .
Systematics
The cichlid species was described as Heros multispinosus by the German zoologist and ichthyologist Albert Günther in 1867 and transferred to the newly introduced genus Herotilapia in 1904 by the French zoologist and ichthyologist Jacques Pellegrin , which has remained monotypical since then . Pellegrin was of the opinion that Herotilapia resembles the other Central American cichlids in terms of morphology ( Heros was a collective genus at that time, in which numerous Central American cichlids were also placed), but in terms of dentition the African cichlid genus Tilapia . The generic name Herotilapia is made up of Heros and Tilapia . The specific epithet multispinosus (German "multi-pronged") refers to the unusually large number of spiked rays . In 2007 , the Mexican ichthyologist Schmitter-Soto synonymized Herotilapia with Archocentrus based on morphological features. In mid-2015 Herotilapia was finally revalidated again with the rainbow cichlid as the only species. Within the tribe of Heroini it is probably closest related to the genus Tomocichla .
literature
- Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staek: American cichlids II, large cichlids. Tetra-Verlag, Bissendorf 1997, ISBN 3-89745-101-8 , pp. 413-416.
- Caleb D. McMahan, Wilfredo A. Matamoros, Kyle R. Piller & Prosanta Chakrabarty: Taxonomy and systematics of the herichthyins (Cichlidae: Tribe Heroini), with the description of eight new Middle American Genera. In: Zootaxa . 3999 (2), doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.3999.2.3 , pp. 211-234.
- Günther Sterba : Freshwater fish. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 2002, ISBN 3-89350-991-7 .
Web links
- Herotilapia multispinosa on Fishbase.org (English)