Stomatepia
| Stomatepia | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stomatepia pindu in the Tropical de la Porte Doree aquarium |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Stomatepia | ||||||||||||
| Trewavas , 1962 |
Stomatepia is a genus of fish from the cichlid family (Cichlidae). It is endemic to the Barombi Mbo volcanic lakein Western Cameroon.
features
Stomatepia species have a typical cichlid shape and are 9 to 10 cm long. Their bodies are strongly flattened on the sides and built to different heights. The body height reaches 25 to 37% of the standard length . The mouth is pointed and slightly above, the upper jaw reaches 26.8 to 35.2% of the length of the head. In the coloring, brown tones of different brightness predominate. The dorsal fin of the animals is supported by 13 to 16 spines and 10 to 12 soft rays. The number of spines in the anal fin is 3, those of the soft rays 8 to 10. As is typical for carnivorous fish, the intestine is shorter than the standard length.
Way of life
The three Stomatepia species occupy the ecological niche of small predatory fish in the Barombi Mbo and feed on aquatic insects, young fish and fish larvae. This makes them the only carnivorous genus of the oreochromine cichlids . Two species cause kleptoparasitism and “steal” food from the freshwater crab Potamon africanus . Stomatepia styles are mouth brooders .
species
- Stomatepia mariae (Holly, 1930)
- Stomatepia mongo Trewavas in Trewavas, Green & Corbet, 1972
- Stomatepia pindu Trewavas in Trewavas, Green & Corbet, 1972
literature
- Anton Lamboj : Stomatepia. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 907.
- Uli Schiewen: The cichlids of the Cameroon crater lakes. in DATZ , 3/92, ISSN 1616-3222
- Uli Schiewen: Diversity in the smallest of spaces - Cameroon's south-western province. in DATZ, 2/2003, ISSN 1616-3222
Web links
- Stomatepia on Fishbase.org (English)