Cichlids
Modified: 30-11--0001 00:00:00
A Cichlid (pronounced ?sick-lid?) is a fish of the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. The family Cichlidae, a family of perciform fish, is large and diverse. It includes 2500 and more species, in sizes ranging from ca. 2.5 cm (e.g. some dwarf Neolamprologus species and Apistogramma) to close to a metre (Boulengerochromis, Cichla), and with morphologies ranging from highly compressed (Pterophyllum, Symphysodon, Uaru, Heros, Heterochromis, Pterochromis, Heroina, Altolamprologus) to extremely elongated (Teleogramma, Teleocichla, Cyprichromis, Paracyprichromis, Rhamphochromis, Bathybates, Lepidiolamprologus, Yissochromis, some Diplotaxodon species, some Placidochromis species, lower Congo River Lamprologus, Reganochromis, Gobiocichla, most Crenicichla spp.).
Some species are important food fishes, and many other are valued aquarium fishes. Some commonly available aquarium cichlids are the angelfish, discus, Jack Dempsey, Mayan cichlid, shell dwellers, Frontosa, Jewel Cichlid, Buffalohead, Electric Blue, Brichardi, Green Chromide, Red Devil, Convict Cichlid, and the oscar.
Types and characteristics of cichlid
The common features of cichlids include:
- a single nostril on each side of the head instead of two (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 mainly freshwater fish and inhabit most of the Paleotropics (Africa), Madagascar and the Neotropics (Americas south of ca. 30? N including the islands of Cuba and Hispa?ola). A small number of species are commonly found in brackish water of varying salinities. A few species of cichlids are found in Israel, Iran and southern India and Sri Lanka. In Africa cichlids are widespread, occurring in the rift lakes (Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika), and virtually all natural lakes and riverine habitats.
Diet
Diets are also diverse: generalized predators, plankton-feeders, herbivores, piscivores, scale-eaters, spongivores, fin eaters, insectivores, molluscivores, detritivores, and paedophores (eat other species' eggs or young). Scientists believe it is this wide adaptability of feeding styles that has helped cichlids to inhabit such a wide range of habitats. It is largely the pharyngeal teeth (teeth in the throat) that allows the cichlid so many 'niche' feeding behaviors, i.e. 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 or months old. The discus fish (Symphysodon species) are noted to feed their young with a secretion on the skin from slime glands. Other South American, some Central American and Madagascan cichlds have also been observed with fry feeding on their parents, but not to the extent of the discus. Parental care falls into one of three categories: mouthbrooders, substrate brooders, and delayed mouthbrooding where the eggs are laid in the open or in a cave, and subsequently brooded in the mouth(s) of the parents.
Cichlids as aquarium fish
During the 1970s and 80s, 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. This trend continues to the present unabated. Even more to ichthyologists and scientists studying evolutionary speciation as hundreds of species have evolved very rapidly from a handful of original species originally entering the lakes. Most popular are Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi cichlids, and many of the species from those lakes remain common in the hobby. Very few Lake Victoria cichlids are in the hobby, (this being primarily due to certain ichthyologists studying the lake having erroneously convincing the border countries not to allow limited collecting for the hobby). Because of the introduced nile pearch and water hyacinth, deforestation causing siltation of water, and overfishing, many species of Lake Victorian cichlids have been wiped out or drastically reduced in the wild. Thankfully, the myriad of satellite lakes surrounding Lake Victoria have not been effected, and harbor a vast array of similar species.
Most cichlids are not the most peaceful aquarium residents, though behaviour varies, as do their water quality demands and feeding habits.
The main groups of cichlids kept in aquariums are:
South American cichlids
Heroines, acaras, eartheaters, Dwarf cichlids
Apistogramma
Angelfish
discus
Central American cichlids
Convict cichlids
South & Central American Cichlid Hybrids
Flowerhorns (Luohan)
African cichlids
Rift valley cichlids
Lake Tanganyika
Cyphotilapia frontosa
Julidochromis spp.
Lake Malawi
Labidochromis caeruleus (Electric Yellow)
Metriaclima estherae (Red Zebra)
Lake Victoria
Lake Turkana (No species are in captivity from this lake) and other
Tilapias
Other African cichlids
Asian cichlids
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