Tropheus duboisi

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Tropheus duboisi
Tropheus duboisi Schoenbrunn2008.jpg

Tropheus duboisi

Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Tropheini
Genre : Tropheus
Type : Tropheus duboisi
Scientific name
Tropheus duboisi
Marlier , 1959

Tropheus duboisi is a cichlid which is endemic in the northern half of Lake Tanganyika lives. The species was named by Georges Marlier after his colleague Jean-Théo Dubois from the Institut pour la recherche scientifique en Afrique centrale , who discovered the species in 1957 at Bemba. Since there was also an orange morph of Tropheus moorii in the areaand the fish stayed at depths of 3 to 12 meters, and thus deeper thanusualwith Tropheus moorii , it was concluded that it must be a new species.

features

Tropheus duboisi becomes 12 cm long and has a relatively high-backed, laterally slightly flattened physique, a wide, lower mouth, a steep head profile and an indented tail fin. It is slightly shorter, but relatively taller than Tropheus moorii . In contrast to Tropheus moorii , the teeth of Tropheus duboisi are not visible from the outside. In relation to the length of the pectoral fins, the mouth is less wide than that of Tropheus moorii .

The basic color of the species is a bluish black. Behind the pectoral fins there is a characteristic light yellow to brownish yellow or reddish cross band. The width of the transverse band varies and can be only two scales wide or six scales, about 15 mm wide. The fins are black. Young fish are deep black and covered with white spots, which stand irregularly on the head and are arranged in more or less regular rows on the flanks. This clearly distinguishes them from the vertically striped young of Tropheus moorii .

Way of life

Tropheus duboisi lives on the rocky shores of Lake Tanganyika at depths of three to five meters. It feeds on the algae growing on the rocks, which it scrapes off with its flat teeth that sit on the outer edges of its lipless mouth. In contrast to Tropheus moorii , which lives in more or less large groups, Tropheus duboisi lives individually or in pairs.

Reproduction

Tropheus duboisi is a mouthbrooder . The 5 to 8 mm large, pea-sized, yellowish-brown eggs are released in free water and usually taken individually by the female into the mouth while sinking. After about 6 weeks, the hatched fry, they are now about 12 to 14 mm long, leave the maternal mouth for the first time. The female eats during the mouth brood period. The initially spotted boys gradually change color to adult color until they are 6 to 7 cm in length and one year old and completely resemble the adults.

literature

  • Horst Linke, Wolfgang Staeck: African cichlids, cichlids from East Africa. P. 54, Tetra Verlag, 1981, ISBN 3-8974-5103-4 .
  • Soren Neergaard: Tanganyika - Cichlids. Kernen Verlag, 1982, ISBN 3-8740-1005-8 .
  • Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
  • Georg Zurlo: Tropheus duboisi. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , pp. 955 f.

Web links

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