The Well-known Red Zebra Cichlid from Lake Malawi

نویسنده

  • AD KONINGS
چکیده

206 Introduetion T he small rock-dwelling cichlids of Lake Malawi are colleetively known as mbuna and, until recently, were neglected by African fishermen. Currently the mbuna are classified among ten different genera in which more than 70 species have been scientifically described. More than double that number of mbuna species are still without a scientific name, most of them to be grouped in the genus Pseudotropheus. The genus Pseudotropheus inc1udes a large number of species (more than 30) that can be divided into several groups or complexes (Ribbink, et al., 1983). One such complex is the P. zebra complex. Ribbink and coauthors grouped all mbuna that resem bie P. zebra in this complex. "These fishes have terminal mouths which they press against the rocks during feeding to collect loose Aufwuchs ...." The main charac-

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Phylogeography of Lake Malawi cichlids of the genus Pseudotropheus: significance of allopatric colour variation.

One of the most compelling features of the cichlid fishes of the African Great Lakes is the seemingly endless diversity of male coloration. Colour diversification has been implicated as an important factor driving cichlid speciation. Colour has also been central to cichlid taxonomy and, thus, to our concept of species diversity. We undertook a phylogeographical examination of several allopatric...

متن کامل

Cone opsin genes of african cichlid fishes: tuning spectral sensitivity by differential gene expression.

Spectral tuning of visual pigments is typically accomplished through changes in opsin amino acid sequence. Within a given opsin class, changes at a few key sites control wavelength specificity. To investigate known differences in the visual pigment spectral sensitivity of the Lake Malawi cichlids, Metriaclima zebra (368, 488, and 533 nm) and Dimidiochromis compressiceps (447, 536, and 569 nm), ...

متن کامل

Variation in body size and trophic morphology within and among genetically differentiated populations of the cichlid fish, Metriaclima zebra, from Lake Malawi

1. The cichlid fish Metriaclima zebra, common in Lake Malawi, feeds by filtering plankton from the water and by brushing items from sediment covered substrata. It inhabits isolated rocky reefs among which community structure, resource availability and gene pools are likely to differ. We speculated that body size and trophic morphology of M. zebra might vary concomitantly. 2. We quantified the e...

متن کامل

Major-histocompatibility-complex variation in two species of cichlid fishes from Lake Malawi.

Lake Malawi in eastern Africa harbors > 500 endemic species of cichlid fishes, all of which are believed to have emerged from a single founding population in the past 2 Myr. Molecular characterization of differences among the species could provide important information about the nature of speciation in the period of adaptive radiation. Because of the close relationship, however, molecular varia...

متن کامل

Differences in sounds made by courting males of three closely related Lake Malawi cichlid species

Courtship sounds made by three sympatric cichlid species, Pseudotropheus zebra, P. callainos and an undescribed species known as P. ‘zebra gold’ were recorded and compared to investigate the potential role of acoustic signals in mate choice. Sounds were emitted during ‘quiver’ and ‘circle’ components of the male courtship display and consisted of rapidly repeated pulse units. Some sound variabl...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2009