Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt
Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt has no official description yet. The word Labidochromis is composed of two parts: Labis comes from the Greek word for forceps or tweezers and refers to the narrow mouth, chromis also comes from Greek and means fish. Perlmutt refers to the pearlescent color on the side flank of this species.
The base colour of this fairly small Mbuna is whitish, the males show a pearl-like hue on top of the white. On the flanks, subadults and females have vertical dark stripes. These dark stripes are almost never visible in the dominant males. The fins are yellow. In the males, the ventral, anal and caudal fins are also trimmed with a black stripe. This black stripe is less clearly visible in the females. The dorsal fin can also have a black stripe, although it sometimes disappears completely in yellow in the males. The males grow to about 10 centimeters long, the females stay a little smaller at about 8 centimeters. In the lake, they become about 2 centimeters smaller due to the more limited amount of food.
Origen
The Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt, like all Mbuna, is found primarily along rocky shores. They are found at Higga Reef, Mbamba Bay and Ngkuyo Island. In Lake Malawi, they are not very numerous. This cichlid is quite rare.
Dieta
En el lago Malawi, se alimentan de pequeños insectos e invertebrados que viven en los aufwuchs y en el sustrato. Mientras buscan insectos e invertebrados, también comen algunas algas. Son omnívoros.
In the aquarium, we have to give them a varied diet of live and frozen food such as brine shrimp, Mysis, krill, etc. You can alternate this with dry food, flakes, granulate, etc. Make sure they also get some vegetable food such as spirulina.
Please do not feed them red mosquito larvae or tubifex. These types of food can rot in the intestines and can cause Malawi Bloat, usually, they die from this disease.
El Acuario
The minimum length of the aquarium is 120 centimeters, smaller is certainly not recommended. Set up the aquarium for rock-dwelling Mbuna. That means (filter) sand on the bottom and rocks. Make sure there are enough hiding places between the rocks. In between the rocks, the males can create a (temporary) territory. The females can also take shelter between the rocks if the male gives them too long and too much attention. Females who do not want to mate or brood on eggs are sometimes hunted endlessly by the males if there are not enough shelters. The males do not make any territory in Lake Malawi, however, this can occasionally occur in the aquarium, especially during the mating season.
Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt males can be quite aggressive towards each other. We advise keeping only 1 male together with several females. A harem of 1 man and 2 or 3 women is fine. If you want to keep more males, the aquarium must be quite large. Think of a minimum length of about 200 centimeters.
Keeping them together with other Labidochromis species such as Labidochromis caeruleus or Labidochromis sp. Hongi is not recommended because they can crossbreed. In general, keeping together with other Mbuna species is no problem as the color and drawing of the Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt does not resemble other species. Be careful with larger predators, it is prey for them! a fairly expensive food. Copadichromis, Aulonocara, and Otopharinx species should not be a problem.
Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt does not need plants but if you have them, they leave them alone. In a Mbuna aquarium, plants are not left alone by all species. If you want to use plants, we recommend strong plants with tough leaves such as Anubias or Java fern.
Cría Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt
As soon as the female is ready to lay eggs, the male lures her to a place in the sand. In doing so, he shows his flank and puts up all his fins. Trembling, he tries to attract the woman ‘ s attention. The couple is first circling each other in the sand for a while.
As soon as the female is ready, she lays one or more eggs in the sand that are immediately fertilized by the male. The female turns around and takes the fertilized eggs into her maw. Depending on the size and experience of the female , she lays between 10 and 40 eggs.
La hembra se encarga por completo de la incubación. Cría los huevos que eclosionan al cabo de unos 3 días. Las larvas permanecen en la boca de la hembra durante unas 3 semanas. Los alevines siguen creciendo dentro de la boca de la hembra, alimentándose del saco vitelino. La hembra no come durante estas 3 semanas. Al cabo de 3 semanas, la hembra escupe los alevines de Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt, después de lo cual tienen que cuidarse solos. Puede alimentar a los alevines con comida en escamas finamente triturada y, por ejemplo, con artemia recién eclosionada.
Vídeo
Autor
John de Lange
Copyright imágenes
Toni Wagner – Tonis-africancichlids.de
Jason Selong – Bigskycichlids.com
Recursos
Malawifreaks.nl (el sitio original ya no está en línea)
Aquagids.nl
Onzemalawicichliden.eu
Malawicichlidhomepage.com
Cichlid-forum.com
Bigskycichlids.com
