Taeniolethrinops
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Taeniolethrinops praeorbitalis |
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| Taeniolethrinops | ||||||||||||
| Eccles & Trewavas , 1989 |
Taeniolethrinops ( gr . "Tainia" = strips + Lethrinops ) is a cichlid - genus , which is endemic in the East African Malawisee occurs.
features
Taeniolethrinops species are 11 to 30 cm long and have the typical shape of a Haplochromis relative. The Taeniolethrinops species have a more or less distinct diagonal stripe that runs from the "neck" to the upper part of the tail stalk. Due to their pointed head shape, species that live above sandy soils can be distinguished from species that live in mixed habitats.
Way of life
Taeniolethrinops species live on sandy or mixed soils and feed by chewing through the sand for food. Some Taeniolethrinops species with particularly pointed snouts thrust upside down to the eyes and deeper into the sand. The sand that is taken up in portions is chewed through and small invertebrates such as insect larvae or molluscs are eaten. Taeniolethrinops species are agame mouthbrooders , i. H. only one sex, in this case the female, takes care of the mouthbrood.
Systematics
Like almost all cichlids in Lake Malawi, Taeniolethrinops belongs to the Haplochromini tribe and is most closely related to the genera Lethrinops and Tramitichromis , which are also endemic in Lake Malawi . Taeniolethrinops differs from Lethrinops by a diagonal band, from Tramitichromis by the shape of the pharynx .
species
There are four types described:
- Taeniolethrinops cyrtonotus (Trewavas, 1931)
- Taeniolethrinops furcicauda (Trewavas, 1931)
- Taeniolethrinops laticeps (Trewavas, 1931)
- Taeniolethrinops praeorbitalis ( Regan , 1922) ( type species )
literature
- Andreas Spreinat: Lake Malawi cichlids from Tanzania. Dähne Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3-9261-4242-1 .
- Erwin Schraml: Taeniolethrinops. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 922.
Web links
- Taeniolethrinops on Fishbase.org (English)