Gnathochromis pfefferi

Gnathochromis pfefferi is an African species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika and its slow-flowing tributaries in the countries of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.[1] It is common and widespread.[1] This cichlid is found in relatively shallow waters, typically over soft bottoms in places with aquatic grasses.[1]

Gnathochromis pfefferi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Gnathochromis
Species:
G. pfefferi
Binomial name
Gnathochromis pfefferi
(Boulenger, 1898)
Synonyms
  • Paratilapia pfefferi Boulenger, 1898
  • Haplochrmomis pfefferi (Boulenger, 1898)
  • Limnochromis pfefferi (Boulenger, 1898)

It reaches up to 14 cm (5.5 in) in length,[2] and females are a little smaller than males.[3] It eats invertebrates (especially shrimp[4]) and plant material.[1] Like many other Tanganyika cichlids, it is a mouthbrooder[2][4] and sometimes kept in aquariums.[3]

Although currently included in the genus Gnathochromis, it is distantly related to the type species G. permaxillaris (tribe Limnochromini), instead being closer to Tropheini.[5] The specific name honours the German zoologist Georg Johann Pfeffer (1854-1931).[6]

References

  1. Ntakimazi, G. (2006). "Gnathochromis pfefferi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2006: e.T60492A12364430. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T60492A12364430.en.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2017). "Gnathochromis pfefferi" in FishBase. April 2017 version.
  3. Tanganyika: Gnathochromis pfefferi. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  4. Ochi, H. (1993). Maintenance of Separate Territories for Mating and Feeding by Males of a Maternal Mouthbrooding Cichlid, Gnathochromis pfefferi, in Lake Tanganyika. Japan. J. Ichthyol. 40(2): 173-182.
  5. Duftner; Koblmüller; and Sturmbauer (2005.) Evolutionary Relationships of the Limnochromini, a Tribe of Benthic Deepwater Cichlid Fish Endemic to Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. J Mol Evol 60: 277–289. doi: 10.1007/s00239-004-0017-8.
  6. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 July 2018). "Order CICHLIFORMES: Family CICHLIDAE: Subfamily PSEUDOCRENILABRINAE (a-g)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 2 February 2019.


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