Xenotilapia papilio

Xenotilapia papilio is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. It is found on the western shore of the lake, between Tembwe (Deux) and Kanoni in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It prefers deeper, rocky habitats, especially where the rocks are covered with sand, at depths from 3–40 m (9.8–131.2 ft).

Xenotilapia papilio
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Xenotilapia
Species:
X. papilio
Binomial name
Xenotilapia papilio
Büscher, 1990

Description

This is a small species which grows no longer than 10 cm (3.9 in) in total length. It does not show obvious sexual dimorphism, although ripe females, those with fully mature eggs ready to be fertilized, show a more rounded belly.[1][2]

Biology

Its diet comprises invertebrates which it extracts from the sediment by filtering it through its gills. Copepods, ostracods, and insect larvae, with filamentous algae and sand, have been found among their stomach contents. They are territorial and both parents are mouthbrooder. The subadults are found in small groups with the larger individuals forming pairs,[3] which defend a territory on the upper face of a large rock.[1]

Taxonomy

The type specimen was found in 1989[4] by Heinz H. Büscher on a dive off the western shore of Lake Tanganyika, 40 km (25 mi) south of Moba.[1] The specific name means "butterfly" because Büscher's Congolese companions gave the specimen that name.[5] The type was placed in the Zoologische Staatssammlung München by Büscher.[4]

This species has a restricted geographical range but still has two colour variants: at the type locality of Tembwe Deux, they have a dorsal fin that is brightly marked with black and white spots while to the north, the adult fishes have yellow dorsal fins which lack black markings.[1]

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References
  1. Thomas Andersen (2005). "Beautiful as a Butterfly: Xenotilapia papilio Büscher, 1990". The Cichlid Room Companion. Juan Miguel Artigas Azas. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  2. "FishBase Glossary: "ripe"". www.fishbase.org. FishBase. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2018). "Xenotilapia papilio" in FishBase. June 2018 version.
  4. Dirk Neumann (2011). "Type Catalogue of the Ichthyological Collection of the Zoologische Staatssammlung München. Part II: Fish types inventoried after 25 April 1944" (PDF). Spixiana. 32 (2): 231–286.
  5. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (25 September 2018). "Order Cichliformes: Family Cichlidae: Subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae (p-y)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
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