Red-hooded earth-eater
| Red-hooded earth-eater | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Red-crested earth-eater, male |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Geophagus steindachneri | ||||||||||||
| Eigenmann & Hildebrand , 1910 |
The red- crested earth-eater ( Geophagus steindachneri ), also known as the red humpback cichlid is a cichlid (Cichlidae) from the Geophagini tribe . He was named in honor of the Viennese ichthyologist Franz Steindachner and lives in the Río Magdalena , Rio Sinú and the Río Cauca in Colombia and in the Río Limón in northwestern Venezuela . In its area of distribution, the water is slightly acidic to neutral ( pH 6.5 to 7) and soft to medium hard (5 to 15 ° dH ) and has a temperature of 24 to 30 ° C.
features
The red crested earth eater grows up to 20 cm long. Its body is flattened on the sides, the head is pointed, the upper profile line is strongly curved, the mouth is large and has strong lips. It has a greenish-brown to light olive base color, and areas of the head and flanks are often metallic gold or shiny green. Black markings are only faintly visible. Dorsal, caudal and anal fins are brownish with yellow and brown spots and stripes. The pelvic fins and the first rays of the anal fin are black, the pectoral fins colorless.
Sexually mature males develop a red forehead hump. Their dorsal and caudal fins are lined with red. The dorsal and anal fins are drawn out like lobes. Females are more simply colored, do not form a frontal hump, and the dorsal and anal fins are not extended.
Fins formula : dorsal XV – XVII / 9–11, anals III / 6–8.
Scale formula : mLR 28–30; SL 18-21.
Reproduction
.jpg)
Redhump eartheater are generally only weakly revier forming and defend their territory until the spawning season aggressive. The animals are ovophilic mouthbrooders of the female sex. The sexual papilla of the male becomes visible ten days before spawning, that of the female only a few hours before. The clutch consists of up to 100 orange-yellow eggs with a diameter of one millimeter and, as with substrate spawners , initially placed on a stone or a similar surface, fertilized and taken into the mouth by the female immediately after fertilization. After about 20 days the fry are released from the mouth for the first time, but in case of danger they are taken in for about 2 weeks.
Systematics
Together with two other species, Geophagus steindachneri forms a group of closely related geophagin cichlids called the “Geophagus” crassilabris group, which may have to be separated from the genus Geophagus .
Aquaristics
The red-crested earth-eater was first introduced to Germany in 1972 and is still the most frequently cared for Geophagus species. However, keeping them in planted aquariums is problematic as the species digs a lot.
literature
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
- Hans A. Baensch , Rüdiger Riehl : Aquariums Atlas. Volume 1, Mergus Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-88244-101-1 .
- Claus Schaefer: "Geophagus" crassilabris group. Red-crested earth-eater and "Geophagus" steindachneri. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 405 f.
Web links
- Red-crested earth-eater on Fishbase.org (English)