Taeniochromis holotaenia

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Taeniochromis holotaenia
Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Haplochromini
Genre : Taeniochromis
Type : Taeniochromis holotaenia
Scientific name of the  genus
Taeniochromis
Eccles & Trewavas , 1989
Scientific name of the  species
Taeniochromis holotaenia
( Regan , 1922)

Taeniochromis holotaenia ( Syn .: Haplochromis body , Haplochromis holotaenia , Paratilapia dimidiata ) is an African cichlid species that is endemic to the East African Lake Malawi .

features

The fish have an elongated body and reach a length of about 22 cm. The length is 3¼ times the body height. The head profile is slightly curved, the muzzle is shorter than the section of the head behind the eyes. The lower jaw protrudes slightly, the maxillary does not reach under the eyes. There are four rows of teeth in the upper jaw and three in the lower jaw. There are 60 teeth in the outer row of teeth in the upper jaw. Most of the teeth are conical. On the lower section of the first gill arch there are eleven gill rakes . The pharyngeal teeth are slender. There are four rows of scales on the “cheeks”. The tail stalk is 1.5 times as long as it is high. The caudal fin is indented.

Females are beige-silver, males are bluish in color. Characteristic of the species is an uninterrupted, broad, black longitudinal stripe that extends from the eyes to the base of the caudal fin and is shown by both sexes ( etymology of the species epithet : "holo" = whole + "taenia" = bandage). There is also a black stripe between the eyes.

Way of life

Taeniochromis holotaenia lives in the entire lake on both sandy and rocky floors and in vallisneria vegetation . It feeds mainly on juvenile cichlids up to a length of 3 cm, as well as invertebrates. Like most cichlids in Lake Malawi, the species is an oviphilic mouthbrooder .

literature

Web links