Cyphotilapia
| Cyphotilapia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Humphead cichlid (C. frontosa) | |
 | |
| Cyphotilapia gibberosa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Subfamily: | Pseudocrenilabrinae |
| Tribe: | Cyphotilapiini |
| Genus: | Cyphotilapia Regan, 1920 |
| Type species | |
| Paratilapia frontosa Boulenger, 1906 | |
Cyphotilapia is a small genus of cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika, with C. frontosa being roughly confined to the northern half of the lake and C. gibberosa being roughly confined to the southern half of the lake. These are a mouth-brooding cichlid with a rather small batch of fry each spawn. The mother will hold the fry in her mouth for about 3-4 weeks before finally releasing about 30-70 fry. These are slow-growing fish, which take up to 6 years to reach sexual maturity. The female will most likely eat her first 2-4 spawns of fry. The best ratio for breeding these cichlids is one male to four females. The male can grow to 16 inches and females about 10 inches. They can live up to 25 years.
Species
There are currently two recognized species in this genus:[1]
- Cyphotilapia frontosa (Boulenger, 1906) (Humphead cichlid)
- Cyphotilapia gibberosa T. Takahashi & Nakaya, 2003
References
- ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013). Species of Cyphotilapia in FishBase. February 2013 version.