1.
Cyphotilapia frontosa
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Cyphotilapia frontosa, the frontosa, is a species of fish from the cichlid family, endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. The genus name Cyphotilapia is composed by Cypho and Tilapia, the specific Latin name frontosa means with a big forehead. C. frontosa can grow to 33 cm in length, even captive specimens potentially grow to this size. It has distinct markings with 5-7 black vertical bars adorning a white or blue body and head, the species also develops a nuchal hump that is more pronounced in older specimens. C. frontosa is a monomorphic species, although the hump is occasionally more pronounced in males. These fishes can live for over 25 years, as is the case with many of the cichlid species found in Lake Tanganyika, isolation of distinct breeding colonies has resulted in several different colour variants evolving. This species is endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa and is widespread in the half of the lake. The species generally resides at greater depths than most other cichlids, C. frontosa is popular aquarium fish and several naturally occurring colour morphs are frequently available for sale to hobbyists. Due to its size C. frontosa needs a large aquarium, however. Frontosa need a cave or similar structure to live in. If these are not present to satisfy the frontosas need for security it will begin to attack the fish in the tank. This is especially true with male frontosa, female frontosa are more likely to be satisfied with ground territory. They are best kept with other cichlids or semi-aggressive fish and they do not like being alone and should be kept in groups of 3 or more. Keeping more than one adult male requires a large tank though, frontosa are best kept in at least 150 gallon tanks. A 150-gallon tank can house 6-8 frontosa, water chemistry and temperature should mirror those found naturally in Lake Tanganyika. The PH should be between 7.8 to 9.0 and the temperature of the water should be between 79-82 F, the addition of rocks, or other ornaments such as pipes, allow the fish to hide and reduce stress. When spooked, frontosa have been known to break thermometers, filters, frontosa do not grow to the size of the tank, they will grow to about 10-14 inches. C. frontosa is a feeder in the wild and its diet in aquaria should consist of good quality prepared foods, frozen foods like krill
2.
Juvenile fish
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Juvenile fish go through various stages between birth and adulthood. They start as eggs which hatch into larvae, the larvae are not able to feed themselves, and carry a yolk-sac which provides their nutrition. Before the yolk-sac completely disappears, the fish must become capable of feeding themselves. When they have developed to the point where they are capable of feeding themselves, when, in addition, they have developed scales and working fins, the transition to a juvenile fish is complete and it is called a fingerling. Fingerlings are typically about the size of fingers, the juvenile stage lasts until the fish is fully grown, sexually mature and interacting with other adult fish. Ichthyoplankton are the eggs and larvae of fish and they are usually found in the sunlit zone of the water column, less than 200 metres deep, sometimes called the epipelagic or photic zone. Ichthyoplankton are planktonic, meaning they cannot swim effectively under their own power, Fish eggs cannot swim at all, and are unambiguously planktonic. Early stage larvae swim poorly, but later stage larvae swim better, Fish larvae are part of the zooplankton that eat smaller plankton, while fish eggs carry their own food supply. Both eggs and larvae are eaten by larger animals. According to Kendall et al.1984 there are three main stages of fish, Egg stage, Spawning to hatching. This stage is used instead of using a stage because there are aspects, such as those to do with the egg envelope. Larval stage, From hatching till all fin rays are present, a key event is when the notochord associated with the tail fin on the ventral side of the spinal cord develops and becomes flexible. A transitional stage, the larval stage, lasts from hatching to the absorption of the yolk-sac. Juvenile stage, Starts when the transformation or metamorphosis from larva to juvenile is complete, that is and these features are that all the fin rays are present and that scale growth is under way. The stage completes when the juvenile becomes adult, that is and this article is about the juvenile stage. Fingerling – refers to a fish that has reached the stage where the fins can be extended, in this stage, the fish is typically about the size of a finger. Fry and fingerling are terms that can be applied to fish of most species. But some groups of fishes have juvenile development stages particular to the group and this section details the stages and the particular names used for juvenile salmon
3.
Darwin's frog
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Darwins frog, also called the southern Darwins frog is a rhinodermatid frog native to the forest streams of Chile and Argentina. The most striking feature of this frog is the development inside the vocal sac of the male. Darwins frog is brown or green with a snout-to-vent length of 2.2 to 3.1 cm, the snout is elongated into a fleshy proboscis which gives the head a triangular shape. The limbs are long and slender. The front feet are not webbed, but some of the toes on the feet usually are. The dorsal surface is uniform brown, tan, or reddish brown, uniform pale or dark green, or some combination of brown. The ventral surface is black and white, with large blotches, Darwins frog feeds on insects and other arthropods. It not only has to hunt, but also needs to hide from its predators and it relies on camouflage to avoid predators, lying on the ground looking like a dead leaf until the predator passes by. Another defensive position is turning on the back and exposing the boldly patterned ventral surface, the female Darwins frog lays up to forty eggs among the leaf litter. The male guards them for three to four weeks until the developing embryos begin to move, and then he ingests the eggs. At this stage, they hop out of the males mouth, Darwins frog is found in Chile and Argentina. In Chile, its range extends from Concepción Province to Palena Province and in Argentina from Neuquén Province and it is found in glades and forested areas at altitudes of up to about 1,100 m above mean sea level. It is also found in bogs and near slow-moving streams, short vegetation increases the retention of water while decreasing the temperature of the soil and provides concealment from predators. The population is fragmented and this frog has poor dispersal ability, Darwins frog has undergone significant population declines due to habitat loss and degradation, largely from conversion of native forests to tree plantations. The amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungal infection, is also a probable factor, populations on Chiloé Island were found to be considerably more abundant than on the mainland. The study recommended IUCN Red List reclassification at least as Endangered, ”, gastric-brooding frog Mouthbrooder Data related to Rhinoderma darwinii at Wikispecies Media related to Rhinoderma darwinii at Wikimedia Commons
4.
Arowana
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Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the family Osteoglossidae, also known as bonytongues. In this family of fish, the head is bony and the body is covered by large, heavy scales. The dorsal and anal fins have soft rays and are long based, the name bonytongues is derived from a toothed bone on the floor of the mouth, the tongue, equipped with teeth that bite against teeth on the roof of the mouth. The arowana is a facultative air breather and can obtain oxygen from air by sucking it into its swim bladder, osteoglossids are basal fish that originated some time during the Cretaceous, and are placed in the actinopterygiid order Osteoglossiformes. As traditionally defined, the family includes several extant species from South America, one from Africa, several from Asia, today Arapaimidae is often regarded as a separate family, which includes the arapaimas and the African arowana. Consequently, the South American genus Osteoglossum, and the Asian and Australian genus Scleropages are the extant genera that remain in the osteoglossid family. Arapaimidae and Osteoglossidae split about 220 million years ago, during the Late Triassic, within Osteoglossidae, the South America Osteoglossum arowanas diverged from the Asian and Australian Scleropages arowanas about 170 Mya, during the Middle Jurassic. The Osteoglossidae are the only freshwater fish family found on both sides of the Wallace Line. At least five genera, known only from fossils, are classified as osteoglossids. Other fossils from as far back as the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous are widely considered to belong to the arowana superorder Osteoglossomorpha, osteoglossomorph fossils have been found on all continents except Antarctica. These fossil genera include Brychaetus, Joffrichthys, and Phareodus, arowana species typically grow to around 2 to 3 ft in captivity. Several species of osteoglossids exhibit parental care and they build nests and protect their young after they hatch. All species are mouthbrooders, the parents holding sometimes hundreds of eggs in their mouths, the young may make several tentative trips outside the parents mouth to investigate the surroundings before leaving permanently. Depending on the system used, there are 10 types of arowana commonly kept as pets,4 from Asia,3 from South America,2 from Australia and 1 from Africa. Arowanas are solitary fish and only allow company while young, adults may show dominance and these fish are best kept with live or frozen feed and they easily outgrow the tank within 8 to 10 months. An aquarium of at least 150 gallons is a minimum, while tanks upwards of 400-600 gallons is preferable, Australian species are best kept alone in aquaria. The name comes from the Indonesian language arwana or nirwana, meaning fish of paradise, archived from the original on 26 May 2006
5.
Hardhead catfish
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The hardhead catfish is a species of sea catfish from the northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and similar to the gafftopsail catfish. It is one of four species in the genus Ariopsis, the common name, hardhead catfish, is derived from the presence of a hard, bony plate extending rearward toward the dorsal fin from a line between the catfishs eyes. It is an elongate marine catfish that reaches up to 28 in in length and 12 lb in weight, the average weight is less than 1 lb, but they commonly reach up to 3 lb. They are often a dirty gray color on top, with white undersides, hardhead catfish are found mostly in the near shore waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean, around the southeast coast of the United States, around the Florida Keys and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Hardhead catfish are found in brackish estuaries and river mouths where the bottom is sandy or muddy. It tends to move from shallower to deeper waters in the winter months, the species is generally common to abundant within its range. The hardhead catfish has four barbels under the chin, with two more at the corners of the mouth and these barbels help the catfish find crabs, fish and shrimp in the muddy bays where they live. The dorsal and pectoral fins each are supported by a sharp, the dorsal spine is normally erect when the fish is excited and a tennis shoe or even a leather-soled shoe offers little protection. The gafftopsail catfish looks similar to the catfish, but its dorsal spine has a distinctive fleshy extension. Ariopsis felis consumes a range of food. Hardhead catfish are opportunistic consumers that use mud and sand flats as hunting grounds and they are also mainly secondary consumers, ingesting primarily detritus, meio-, and macrobenthic fauna and fish. Their diet primarily consists of algae, seagrasses, cnidarians, sea cucumbers, gastropods, polychaetes, shrimps and they can occasionally be tertiary consumers. Their diet depends on their size and location, younger hardhead catfish tend to eat small crustaceans, like amphipods, shrimp, blue crabs, mollusks, and annelids. Juveniles that are still under the protection of the male mouthbrooder will feed predominately on planktonic crustaceans close by to the mouth of the parent, the adults primarily consume larger fish. Significant evidence suggests shows correlation between the activity patterns and seasonal changes. Under controlled conditions of photoperiod, temperature, and water quality, there appears to be annual, bimodal cycles for all three of the aforementioned variables. The cycles match with the seasonal migrations of hardhead catfish. Photoperiod appears to be the cue that triggers the cyclic changes in behavior
6.
Cichlid
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Cichlids /ˈsɪklᵻdz/ are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a known as Labroidei, along with the wrasses, damselfishes. This family is large and diverse. At least 1,650 species have been described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families. New species are discovered annually, and many species remain undescribed, the actual number of species is therefore unknown, with estimates varying between 2,000 and 3,000. Cichlids are popular freshwater fish kept in the home aquarium, Cichlids span a wide range of body sizes, from species as small as 2.5 cm in length to much larger species approaching 1 m in length. As a group, cichlids exhibit a diversity of body shapes, ranging from strongly laterally compressed species to species that are cylindrical. Generally, however, cichlids tend to be of size, ovate in shape, and slightly laterally compressed, and generally similar to the North American sunfishes in morphology, behavior. Many cichlids, particularly tilapia, are important food fishes, while others are valued game fish, the family also includes many familiar aquarium fish, including the angelfish, oscars, and discus. Cichlids have the largest number of endangered species among vertebrate families and their diversity in the African Great Lakes is important for the study of speciation in evolution. Many cichlids introduced into waters outside of their range have become nuisances. Cichlids share a key trait, the fusion of the lower pharyngeal bones into a single tooth-bearing structure. Cichlids are efficient and often highly specialized feeders that capture and process a wide variety of food items. This is assumed to be one reason why they are so diverse, Cichlids vary in body shape, ranging from compressed and disc-shaped, to triangular to elongated and cylindrical. A ninth subfamily, Ptychochrominae, was recognized by Sparks. Cichlid taxonomy is still debated, and classification of genera cannot yet be definitively given, a comprehensive system of assigning species to monophyletic genera is still lacking, and there is not complete agreement on what genera should be recognized in this family. As an example of the problems, Kullander placed the African genus Heterochromis phylogenetically within Neotropical cichlids. Other problems center upon the identity of the common ancestor for the Lake Victoria superflock
7.
Tilapia
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Tilapia is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia are mainly freshwater fish inhabiting shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes, historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and the Middle East, and they are of increasing importance in aquaculture and aquaponics. Tilapia is the fourth most consumed fish in the United States dating back to 2002, the popularity of tilapia came about due to its cheap price, easy preparation, and its mild taste. Tilapia was a symbol of rebirth in Egyptian art, and was in addition associated with Hathor and it was also said to accompany and protect the sun god on his daily journey across the sky. Tilapia were one of the three types of fish caught in Biblical times from the Sea of Galilee. At that time they were called Amnoon, in Arabic the fish is called Musht, which means a comb, as resembled by its backfin or commonly now as St. Peters fish. The name St. Peters fish comes from the story in the Gospel of Matthew about the apostle Peter catching a fish that carried a coin in its mouth and these species have been the target of small-scale artisanal fisheries in the area for thousands of years. The common name tilapia is based on the name of the cichlid genus Tilapia, which is itself a latinisation of thiape, scottish zoologist Andrew Smith named the genus in 1840. Tilapia typically have laterally compressed, deep bodies, like other cichlids, their lower pharyngeal bones are fused into a single tooth-bearing structure. This means they are efficient feeders that can capture and process a variety of food items. Their mouths are protrusible, usually bordered with wide and often swollen lips, typically tilapia have a long dorsal fin, and a lateral line which often breaks towards the end of the dorsal fin, and starts again two or three rows of scales below. Some Nile tilapia can grow as long as two feet, other than their temperature sensitivity, tilapia exist in or can adapt to a very wide range of conditions. One extreme example is the Salton Sea, where tilapia introduced when the water was brackish now live in saltwater so salty that it kills marine fish, Tilapia are also known to be a mouth breeding species. Mouth breeding means they carry the eggs and young fish in their mouths for several days after the yolk sac is absorbed. Tilapia as a name has been applied to various cichlids from three distinct genera, Oreochromis, Sarotherodon and Tilapia. The members of the two genera used to belong to the genus Tilapia but have since been split off into their own genera. However, particular species within are still commonly called tilapia regardless of the change in their actual taxonomic nomenclature, the species remaining in Tilapia in particular still seem to be a paraphyletic assemblage. Tilapia has been used as controls for certain aquatic plant problems
8.
Haplochromine
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The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus plus a number of related genera such as Aulonocara, Astatotilapia. They are endemic to eastern and southern Africa, except for Astatotilapia flaviijosephi in Southwest Asia, a common name in a scientific context is East African cichlids – while they are not restricted to that region, they are the dominant Cichlidae there. This tribe was extensively studied by Ethelwynn Trewavas, who made major reviews in 1935 and 1989, at the beginning, even today, numerous new species are being described each year. They do include, however, the genus of the subfamily. In the African Great Lakes, there has been an adaptive radiation of Haplochromini. Many have interesting behavior, and brilliant colours are also widespread, males and females are often strikingly sexually dichromatic. In the aquarium hobby, these fishes are popular for these reasons and they are often aggressive and demand rather unusual water parameters, making them generally unsuited for beginners or community tanks. There are some names used among aquarists for Haplochromini. Generally, any and all may be referred to haplos, haps or happies, more specific terms are mbuna and utaka, which are Bantu terms for these two ecological groups. Haplochromines inhabit both rivers and lakes, but it is the species that have been most closely studied because of the species flocks known from some of the larger lakes. Among the haplochromines found there, there have been many extinctions, one monotypic genus, Hoplotilapia, is believed to be entirely extinct at least in the wild. Hybrid introgression is seriously hampering molecular phylogenetic studies of this group, two rather singular cichlids are also placed in the Haplochromini on occasion. These are the monotypic genera Etia and Myaka, but more usually, the former is considered incertae sedis among the Pseudocrenilabrinae, while the latter is placed in the Tilapiini. International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, kishe-Machumu, Mary, Witte, Frans & Wanink, Jan H. Dietary shift in benthivorous cichlids after the changes in Lake Victoria. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20, 361–374
