Tanganyika clown
Eretmodus cyanostictus
Eretmodus cyanostictus referred to in German as Tanganyika clown or Striped Grundelbuntbarsch, is an endemic living on the coasts of the East African Lake Tanganyika cichlid. The scientific epithet refers to the bluish iridescent spots in the head region ( Gr. " kyaneos " = blue, " stigma" = time characters).
Features
Females of Eretmodus cyanostictus be 8 cm long, males having from 9 to 10 cm longer. The body is elongated, laterally flattened slightly and only slightly high. The head is massive and large, the mouth under constant. Each jaw is provided with teeth spatulate reception which are arranged in two or three rows. The dorsal fin is long and pointed at the end of soft-rayed. Also, abdominal and anal fins are tapered. The swim bladder is short. Eretmodus cyanostictus is provided of gray, olive green, dark brown to beige - brownish color and sorted by geographical variation with a different dot or stripe pattern on trunk, head and fins. Under the heads and lips are blue usually. The animals from the north and the center of Lake Tanganyika have 7-9 vertical yellowish to orange-colored stripes on the sides of the body. In fish from the southern part of the lake, this drawing is reduced to 5 to 6 strips adorn the lower body. On top of the fuselage, they show 2 to 3 rows of blue balls. The dorsal fin is lined with orange, the ventral fin transparent, all other fins brownish.
- Fins formula: Dorsal XXIII-XXV/3-5, Anal III/6-7
- Dandruff formula MLR 32-35, SL 22-23/6-9
Way of life
Eretmodus cyanostictus lives close to the coast in depths of up to ten meters in highly oxygenated water and is territorial forming. It feeds on algae growth on the rocks and it contains micro and small organisms. The cichlids spawn on a flat rock surface or sandy soil. Subsequently, about 20 to 30 eggs are taken from the female for about 12 to 14 days into the mouth. Then the mouth brood care is transferred to the male that carries the eggs around for another 7 to 10 days in the mouth with it. Are the fry hatched, they are released from the mouth, looked into pits in the seabed and not resumed the mouth.