Shoulder spot cichlid
| Shoulder spot cichlid | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shoulder spot cichlid ( Amphilophus trimaculatum ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Amphilophus trimaculatum | ||||||||||||
| ( Günther , 1867) |
The shoulder spot cichlid ( Amphilophus trimaculatum ), also known as the three-point cichlid after its scientific name , is a freshwater fish from the cichlid family that occurs in central Central America in rivers that flow into the Pacific . The natural range includes southern Mexico ( Oaxaca and Chiapas ), southern Guatemala and El Salvador .
features
The shoulder spot cichlid belongs to the growing group of cichlids and can reach a length of up to 37 cm. Its body is oval and laterally flattened, its head tapering towards the end mouth. The basic color is yellow-green, the head is yellowish. Adult fish are reddish in color from the throat and chest to the front sideline . It is characterized by a black, greenish-rimmed eye spot above the beginning of the front sideline and about five black spots in a row on the midline of the back of the body. There may also be dark spots on the back of the eye. Depending on the mood, seven dark horizontal stripes can be visible on the sides of the body. The genders do not differ externally.
Way of life
The shoulder spot cichlid lives in the lower reaches of rivers that flow into the Pacific. It prefers regions under overhanging bank vegetation or with reeds or rushes with sandy or muddy soils. The cichlids feed on carnivore on smaller fish, larger wasserbewohnenden invertebrates and insects that have fallen on the water surface. They are open brooders , in which both parents take care of the brood in roughly equal proportions. A clutch of large females comprises up to 1000 eggs.
Systematics
The cichlid was in 1867 by the German zoologist Albert Günther as Heros urophthalmus described . Later the species was assigned to the genus Parapetenia ( synonym of Nandopsis ) and most recently to Cichlasoma . During a revision of Cichlasoma by the Swedish ichthyologist Sven O. Kullander , however, the species was separated from Cichlasoma . In April 2016 the species was assigned to the genus Amphilophus by a team of Czech ichthyologists .
literature
- Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staek: American cichlids II, large cichlids. Tetra-Verlag, Bissendorf 1997, ISBN 3-8974-5101-8 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Sven O. Kullander: Revision of the South American cichlid genus Cichlasoma. Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm 1983.
- ↑ O. Říčan, L. Piálek, K. Dragová, J. Novák: Diversity and evolution of the Middle American cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with revised classification. In: Vertebrate Zoology. 66 (1), 2016, pp. 1–102 ( PDF ).
Web links
- "Cichlasoma" trimaculatum on Fishbase.org (English)