Triglachromis otostigma
| Triglachromis otostigma | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Triglachromis | ||||||||||||
| Poll & Thys van den Audenaerde , 1974 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Triglachromis otostigma | ||||||||||||
| ( Regan , 1920) |
Triglachromis otostigma ( Syn .: Limnochromis otostigma ) is an African cichlid species that is endemic to the East African Lake Tanganyika .
features
Triglachromis otostigma has an elongated body and becomes 10 to 12 cm long. The head is relatively broad. There are 2 to 3 rows of conical teeth in the jaws, with the outer teeth being much larger and almost horizontal. The teeth on the pharyngealia are very small and, in most cases, double-pointed. The number of gill rakes is 12 to 14. In a longitudinal row one counts 35 to 37 scales. The base of the pectoral fins and a zone in front of the pelvic fins are not scaly. The dorsal fin has 15 or 16 spines, each ending in a short, flexible filament, and 8 to 10 soft rays. The anal fin is supported by three hard and 7 or 8 soft rays. In contrast to the forked caudal fin of Limnochromis , that of Triglachromis otostigma is rounded. The outer ventral fin ray is long, not connected to the rest with a fin membrane and can be moved independently of the others and z. B. bent down to serve as a feeler in the mud. This is reminiscent of the agile ventral rays of the gurnards and prompted the Belgian ichthyologists Max Poll and Thys van den Audenaerde to separate the species from Limnochromis and assign them to the monotypical genus Triglachromis . Trigla is the generic name of the gurnard and Chromis is a genus of damselfish ; However, the term is always used in combination with a preceding addition to denote species of cichlid.
The species is brownish to copper-colored and shows slightly sloping stripes of narrow, metallic bluish to mother-of-pearl-colored scales on the sides of the body. The dorsal fin is gray-brown, the anal fin and pelvic fins are bluish.
Way of life
Triglachromis otostigma lives on muddy soils near the shore to great depths and feeds on diatoms , microorganisms and larger invertebrates. Like all Limnochromini , the fish are mouthbrooders .
literature
- Pierre Brichard: The Big Book of Tanganyika Cichlids. With all the other fish on Lake Tanganyika. Bede Verlag GmbH. 1995, ISBN 978-3927997943
- Soren Neergaard: Tanganyika - Cichlids. Kernen Verlag, 1982, ISBN 3-8740-1005-8
Web links
- Triglachromis otostigma on Fishbase.org (English)