''Ctenochromis horei'' is a species of

haplochromine __NOTOC__ The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus ''Haplochromis'' plus a number of closely related genera such as '' Aulonocara'', '' Astatotila ...

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

which is found in East Africa.

Description

Large individuals, which are classified as being greater than long, have black spots on their heads. Males, while foraging, show a distinct orange spot that is located on the anal fin to females as a courtship display. The males attain lengths of and the females .

Distribution

''Ctenochromis horei'' is found in the basin of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. It is found in Lake Tanganyika itself and in its tributary rivers such as the

Ruzizi River The Ruzizi (also sometimes spelled Rusizi, French language, French: ''Rivière Ruzizi''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Ruzizi Rivier'') is a river, long, that flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa, descending from about to about ...

and the Nua River, as well as in the outflowing

Lukuga River The Lukuga River () is a tributary of the Lualaba River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that drains Lake Tanganyika. It is unusual in that its flow varies not just seasonally but also due to longer term climate fluctuations. Location ...

as far as the Kisimba-Kilia rapids.

Habitat and ecology

''Ctenochromis horei'' is ubiquitous within the Lake Tanganyika basin where it occurs over both rock and sand substrates, but shows a preference for habitats with a soft substrate on which grows a sward of aquatic grasses. This is a species of shallow water species along the lakeshore and in the lower reaches of the tributary rivers. It is omnivourous, but the adults are mainly

piscivorous A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that primarily eats fish. Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evolution (via water-bound amphibians during the Devonian period); insectivory came next; then in time, the more terrestrially adapted rept ...

. The females are

mouthbrooders Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

, brooding both eggs ad fry in their mouth Dominant males have been found to defend a spawning female from other males in the area. The dominant males have a harem of females but other males will sneakily mate with the females when they can.

Threats

''Ctenochromis horei'' is threatened by increases in water turbidity and siltation in shallows caused by agriculture and forestry in the Lake Tanganyika

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, it is also threatened by over-fishing using beach

seine net Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be de ...

Name

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Captain Edward Coode Hore (1848-1912], who was the collector of the Type (biology), type.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3811798 horei Fish of Lake Tanganyika Fish described in 1894 Taxa named by Albert Günther Taxonomy articles created by Polbot