Lemon cichlid

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Lemon cichlid
Lemon cichlid, male

Lemon cichlid, male

Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Cichlinae
Tribe : Heroini
Genre : Amphilophus
Type : Lemon cichlid
Scientific name
Amphilophus citrinellus
( Günther , 1864)
Two lemon cichlids

The lemon cichlid ( Amphilophus citrinellus , syn .: Cichlasoma citrinellum ) is a species of fish belonging to the cichlid family and is found in Central America ( Nicaragua , Costa Rica ) east of the main watershed. It belongs to the group of substrate sieves.

features

The animals usually have a gray-green basic color and show, depending on their origin ( Lake Nicaragua , Lake Managua , Xiloasee , Apoyosee , Apoyeque, Masaya, Vojoa, Tiscapa) a dark banded pattern and different red and yellow components. From a length of about 12 cm, some animals show strong colors from yellow-white, lemon-yellow to yellow-orange. Young fish are always dark gray and striped. Males grow up to 30 cm, females usually stay smaller. The males are characterized by a pronounced forehead hump in old age. They also have a cone-shaped genital papilla and longer fins than the females.

Possibility of confusion

This possibly consists of Amphilophus labiatum , which is characterized by thicker lips. But also with the lemon cichlid there seems to be thick-lipped forms in the Apoyeque crater lake, which may form their own, previously undescribed species and are therefore provisionally referred to as Amphilophus cf. citrinellum . Adult lemon cichlids are usually taller than Amphilophus labiatum .

Way of life

Amphilophus citrinellus is a pair-forming open breeder and very aggressive. The eggs are laid in a cleanly cleaned, often vertical or inclined fixed place and guarded by both parents. Both parent animals take care of the brood ( parent family ), the hatched larvae are transferred by the female into a prepared pit. In the case of the lemon cichlid, it was observed that the fry feed on the body slime of their parents. Increased concentrations of prolactin , growth hormones and thyroxine were found in the mucus .

The lemon cichlid does not sieve its food from the subsoil, but rather picks it out, but it is still assigned to the group of substrate sieves. Invertebrates are the main ingredient in food.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Alderton: Fish for aquarium and pond - the large encyclopedia with 800 species. dk Verlag, German edition 2005, ISBN 3-8310-0669-5
  2. ↑ a b Ad Konings (editor): Cichlids - properly cared for. Verlag Cichlid Press, ISBN 3-928457-18-7 : p. 181
  3. ^ A b Claus Schaefer: Amphilophus citrinellus. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. 2 volumes. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 45.
  4. ↑ a b c Petrovicky Iwan: The great encyclopedia of aquarium fish. 2nd edition Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1993, ISBN 3-86070-288-2
  5. ↑ DATZ-pdf on the evolution of the lemon cichlids
  6. ↑ Marcus Schütz & GWBarlow: Young of the Midas cichlid get biologically active nonnutriants by eating mucus from the surface of their parents. Fish Physiology and Biochemestry vol. 16 no.1 pp 11-18 (1997) doi : 10.1007 / BF00004536

Web links

Commons : Amphilophus citrinellus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files