Tropheus moorii, Blunthead cichlid : aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Tropheus moorii Boulenger, 1898

Blunthead cichlid
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Tropheus: Greek, tropaion = defeat, a memorial of a fighting war, trophy; because of their specialized teeth were such an obvious feeding adaptation (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Boulenger.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 8.0 - 9.0; dH range: 9 - 19. Tropical; 24°C - 26°C (Ref. 1672); 3°S - 9°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 14.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5713); max. reported age: 10 years (Ref. 52198)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are solitary (Ref. 86760). Feed on worms, crustaceans, insects and plant matter (Ref. 7020). Females brood their young in the mouth (Ref. 86760). Aquarium keeping: feed on epiphyton; many females for one male; minimum aquarium size 150 cm (Ref. 51539).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Female lays only a few eggs. Female collects eggs up into her mouth before they sink to the bottom and then moves to the genital area of the male. There the sperm are shed and taken into the mouth of the female where fertilization takes place. Eggs hatch after about 4 weeks of incubation (Ref. 7020). Produces 5-17 eggs (Ref. 1672). In one study, eggs from the cleavage phase and larvae of up to 1.45 cm TL are mouthbrooded by female parents ranging from 6.2 to 7.9 cm SL long (Ref. 86760).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

Maréchal, C. and M. Poll, 1991. Tropheus. p. 521-525. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse, G.G. Teugels and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 4. (Ref. 5713)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 31 January 2006

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01514 (0.00700 - 0.03275), b=2.97 (2.80 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.0   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 1.7 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=10; K >0.30; Fec=5-17).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (22 of 100).