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Cichlid From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia. Cichlids

Types and characteristics of cichlid

The family Cichlidae is large and very diverse, and is one of the most important families of fish and is a major vertebrate family. It includes some 2000 species, in sizes that range from ca. 3 cm (e.g. Apistogramma) to close to a meter (Boulengerochromis, Cichla), and with morphologies ranging from highly compressed (Pterophyllum, Symphysodon) to extremely elongated (Teleogramma, some Crenicichla spp.). Some species are important food fishes, and many other are valued aquarium fishes. Some notable aquarium cichlids are the angelfish, discus, Jack Dempsey and the oscar.

The common features of cichlids include:

• a single nostril (a characteristic they share only with damselfish)
• an interrupted lateral line organ (except for genera Teleogramma and Gobiocichla)
• a distinctive shape of one of the otoliths
• the small intestine leaves the stomach from its left side, not from its right side as in other fish.
• the presence of teeth in both the jaws and in the throat.

Range

Cichlids are secondary freshwater fish and inhabit most of the Paleotropics (Africa) and the Neotropics (Americas south of ca. 30 deg N). A few species are also found in Asia. African lakes are particularly rich in Cichlid species.

Diet

Diets are also diverse: generalized predators, plankton-feeders, herbivores, piscivores, scale-eaters, paedophagus (eat other species' young). Scientists believe it is this wide adaptability of feeding styles that has helped the fish of cichlidae to inhabit such a wide range of biotopes. It is largely the pharyngeal teeth (teeth in the throat) that allows the cichlid so many 'niche' feeding behaviors. eg: the jaws may be used to hold or pick food, while the pharyngeal teeth are used to crush what was harvested.

Reproduction

All species show some form of parental care for both eggs and larvae, often extended to free-swimming young until they are several weeks old. Parental care falls into one of three categories: mouthbrooders, substrate brooders, and those that substrate brood the eggs and then mouthbrood the young.

Cichlids as aquarium fish

During the 1960s and 70s, the lakes of the Great Rift Valley in Africa were discovered by aquarists, and the great wealth of cichlids endemic to those lakes became a goldmine of novelties for aquarists. Most popular were Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi, and many of the species from those lakes remain common in the hobby.

Aquarium cichlids are not the most peaceful aquarium residents, though behaviour varies, and so do their water quality demands and feeding habits.

The main groups of cichlids kept in aquariums

• American cichlids
  • Heroines, acaras, eartheaters, and other large cichlids
  • Dwarf cichlids (Apistogramma etc)
  • Other (including angelfish, discus)
• African cichlids
  • Rift valley cichlids
    • Lake Tanganyika
    • Lake Malawi (including Electric Yellow)
    • Lake Victoria
    • Lake Rudolph and other
  • Tilapias
  • Other African cichlids
• Asian cichlids

External links

• A more or less complete listing of cichlid genus and species, with phylogenetic context

References

• Barlow, G. W. (2000). The Cichlid fishes. Cambridge MA: Perseus Publishing.
• "Cichlidae." ITIS Standard Report. (Integrated Taxonomic Information System: National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., 2004-05-11). ITIS 169770
• "Family Cichlidae - Cichlids." FishBase. ed. Froese, R. and D. Pauly (04/2004), Cichlidae

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