Astatotilapia burtoni

Two threatening males

Burton mouthbrooders ( Astatotilapia burtoni ( Syn: Haplochromis burtoni ) ) is a cichlid, the East African Lake Tanganyika, the air flowing into the lake and rivers in Lukuga, the outflow of Lake Tanganyika to the Congo, occurs. It also comes in the middle and upper Kagera Nile and the lakes before in its catchment area, where Burton mouthbrooders was probably introduced by man. Burton mouthbrooders was named after the Burton Bay, which in turn was named after the British explorer Richard Francis Burton.

Features

Males of Burton's mouth brooders are 12 cm long, in general, the maximum length is 15 cm. Females are considerably smaller with a length of 7 cm. The type has the typical shape of a Haplochromis relatives with a beefy head and a large, easy upstanding mouth. The body is yellowish to greenish gray or light blue and shows some dark horizontal stripes, which are more or less visible depending on the mood. There are clear blindfolds, which extend to the corners of the neck on both sides of the head. Also, there are two to three horizontal dark stripes on its mouth. The lips are blue. Males show on the anal fin clear yellow, black bordered eggspots. The tail fins stem is 1.1 to 1.2 times as long as high. The number of spines in the dorsal fin is 13 to 15

Way of life

Burton mouthbrooders lives in shallow sections of Lake Tanganyika near river mouths, in the estuaries, estuary near swamps and floodplains and in slow-flowing rivers. It is an omnivore, insect larvae, small fish, diatoms, algae and various plant material eats. During the spawning season the males are revier forming and place a shallow pit in the ground water in the spawning partners. The eggs are then removed from the females mouth. After about 14 days, the juveniles are released from the mouth, can in dangerous situations but still some time looking for refuge.