''Limnotilapia dardennii'', the latticed cichlid, is a species of

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted th ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. T ...

, where it prefers rocky areas near the coast. It may also be found in the aquarium trade. This species is currently the only known member of its genus.

Description

On colour these fish are yellowish olive on the upperparts and silvery on the ventral surfaces, it is marked with eleven dark vertical bars starting between the eyes, the fins are yellowish with the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

marbled with olive and the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

have red bases. The males of this species can reach a total length of , and females can reach a length of .

Distribution

''Limnotilapia dardennii'' is widely distributed in Lake Tanganyika and it also occurs in the delta of the

Malagarasi River The Malagarasi River is a river in western Tanzania, flowing through Kigoma Region, although one of its tributaries comes from southeastern Burundi. The river also forms the western border of Tabora Region, the southern border of Kagera Region ...

. It occurs in Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Habitat and biology

''Limnotilapia dardennii'' lives close to the shore, preferring sandy areas to rocky zones. Juvenile fish live in shallower waters over sand and mud substrates while the adults prefer deeper waters and rocky substrates. It is an omnivore with much of its diet consisting of plant material such as algae,

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. P ...

and

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They a ...

. It is also known to feed on worms and the eggs of other fishes. It is regarded as closest to the ancestral form of species within its grouping which are browsers and grazers of algae as it shows the least specialisation of that group.

Human use and threats

This species is fished for human consumption, mostly using beach seines, it is also threatened by increased sedimentation of the inshore waters of Lake Tanganyika caused by erosion in the watersheds of the inflowing rivers. It is sometimes found in the aquarium trade.

Name

The specific name hours the painter

Léon Dardenne Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

(1865-1912) who was an illustrator on the Congo Free State expedition to Lake Tanganyika on which the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

of this species was collected. Boulenger said the native name for this fish was "sangani"

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2699789 Limnotilapia Monotypic fish genera Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger Fish described in 1899 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot