Lamprologus lethops

Lamprologus lethops is a species of cichlid fish from areas with fast current in the Congo River in Central Africa, where it is believed to live in depths as great as 160 m (520 ft)[2] to 200 m (660 ft)[3] below the surface. It reaches about 10 cm (4 in) in length with males growing somewhat larger than females, is all whitish in color (non-pigmented), and essentially blind as adult, as their eyes are covered in a thick layer of skin (only retain a slight sensibility to light).[4][5] The eyes of juveniles are rudimentary and not covered by skin.[5]

Lamprologus lethops
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Lamprologus
Species:
L. lethops
Binomial name
Lamprologus lethops
T. R. Roberts & D. J. Stewart, 1976

Living L. lethops were seen for the first time in 2011 when local fishermen managed to bring up a few specimens alive from the depths. Otherwise they rapidly die due to changes in pressure.[5][6] They have subsequently been kept in aquaria.[6] Based on these individuals its behavior is essentially similar to that of its "normal-looking" relatives, like L. congoensis.[5][6]

Among other fish species with similar adaptations (reduced eyes and non-pigmented) found in similar habitats in the Congo River are an elephantfish (Stomatorhinus microps), a clariid catfish (Gymnallabes nops), a mochokid catfish (Chiloglanis sp.), two claroteid catfish (Notoglanidium pallidum and Platyallabes tihoni), and four spiny eels (Mastacembelus aviceps, M. brichardi, M. crassus and M. latens).[7][8]

References
  1. Moelants, T. (2010). "Lamprologus lethops". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T182930A8005445. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T182930A8005445.en.
  2. Norlander, Britt (April 20, 2009). Rough waters: one of the world's most turbulent rivers is home to a wide array of fish species. Now, large dams are threatening their future. Archived 2013-10-17 at Archive.today Science World
  3. Weisberger, Mindy (12 January 2020). "Dying Fish Revealed Congo Is World's Deepest River". livescience.com. LiveScience. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  4. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Lamprologus lethops" in FishBase. February 2013 version.
  5. Lucanus, Oliver (March–April 2014). "Aquatic Travel: Blind fishes from the Congo river". Amazonas Magazine. 3 (2).
  6. Lucanus, Oliver (2013). "First Notes on the Husbandry of the Blind Cichlid Lamprologus lethops from the Congo River". Cichlid News. 22 (1): 6–11.
  7. Lucanus, Oliver (17 May 2012). "The Mexican Blind Cave Fish Isn't the Only Troglodytic Fish Available to Fishkeepers". Fish Channel. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  8. Elizabeth Alter, S.; Brown, B.; Stiassny, M.L.J. (2015). "Molecular phylogenetics reveals convergent evolution in lower Congo River spiny eels". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 15 (1): 224. doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0507-x. PMC 4608218. PMID 26472465.


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