Narrow perch
| Narrow perch | ||||||||||||
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Small perch ( Chindongo elongatus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Chindongo elongatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Fryer , 1956) |
The narrow perch ( Chindongo elongatus , syn .: Pseudotropheus elongatus ) is an African cichlid species that is endemic to the East African Lake Malawi . The type locality of the nominate form is Mbamba Bay on the Tanzanian shore of Lake Malawi; The only other known site of this form is Nkhata Bay . In addition, there are numerous very similar color forms, described and undescribed species with the elongated body typical of the narrow perch, which together form the genus Chindongo .
features
The narrow perch has an elongated, but relatively high and laterally slightly flattened body for a Chindongo species and can reach a length of 8 to 10 cm. The body height is 27.7 to 31.4% of the standard length . Young fish are slimmer, adult males are taller. The basic color is blackish to dark brown, on which the species shows seven to eight blue, vertical stripes. The forehead and muzzle are convex. The mouth is slightly below, the lips are slightly thickened, especially the upper lip, which protrudes slightly. The back of the mouth does not extend to the front edge of the eye. The upper and lower jaws are broadly rounded and have three to four rows of teeth in which the teeth are arranged fairly regularly. The teeth of the outer row of teeth are two-pointed with the exception of the last three or four (rarely up to seven) lateral teeth in the upper jaw, which are conical and somewhat enlarged. The number of two-pointed teeth in the outer row in the upper jaw is 34 to 36. In both jaws, the teeth of the three inner rows are much smaller and three-pointed. The gill rakes are small and simply built. On the first gill arch there are 10 to 11 gill rakes on the ceratobranchial, 3 or 4 on the epibranchial and one between the epibranchial and the ceratobranchial.
- Fins formula : dorsal XVII – XVIII / 8–9, anal III / 6–7.
- Dandruff formula : mLR 30–35, SL I 23–25, SL II 10–12.
Way of life
The narrow perch lives in shallow water on rocky coasts with little sediment input, especially between smaller rocks, and always stays close to the substrate. He swims z. B. on cave ceilings with the stomach up. It feeds mainly on microscopic organisms (e.g. diatoms and cyanobacteria ) which it combs from the algae growth on the rocks. The majority of the fish are found at depths of 0.5 to 6 meters. The narrow perch is territorial and like all Mbuna species an ovophilic mouthbrooder , in which the female takes care of the brood.
Systematics
The narrow perch was described in 1956 by the British biologist Geoffrey Fryer and assigned to the genus Pseudotropheus . In 2016 the narrow perch was placed in the newly introduced genus Chindongo along with other cichlids from the former Pseudotropheus elongatus species group .
literature
- Lothar Seegers: The identity of Pseudotropheus elongatus , with the description of P. longior from Mbamba Bay, Tanzania, and notes on Genyochromis mento (Teleostei: Cichlidae) Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 97–110, September 1996 © by Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, ISSN 0936-9902
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jr. (2016): A Revision of the Pseudotropheus elongatus species group (Teleostei: Cichlidae) With Description of a New Genus and Seven New Species. Zootaxa , 4168 (2): 353-381. DOI: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4168.2.9
Web links
- Pseudotropheus elongatus on Fishbase.org (English)
- Chindongo elongatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Kasembe, J., 2006. Accessed September 1, 2016th