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.
Origine
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.
Conseils pour l’alimentation
Dans le lac Malawi, ils se nourrissent de petits insectes et d’invertébrés qui vivent dans les aufwuchs et le substrat. En cherchant des insectes et des invertébrés, ils mangent aussi quelques algues. Ce sont des omnivores
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.
L’ Aquarium
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.
Reproduction 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 femelle s’ occupe entièrement de l ‘ incubation. Elle couve les œufs qui éclosent après environ 3 jours. Les larves restent dans la bouche de la femellependant environ 3 semaines. Les alevins continuent de grandir dans la bouche de la femelle en se nourrissant de leur sac vitellin. La femelle ne mange pas pendant ces 3 semaines. Après 3 semaines, la femelle recrache les jeunes alevins Labidochromis sp. Perlmutt , qui doivent ensuite se débrouiller seuls. Vous pouvez nourrir les alevins avec de la nourriture en flocons finement broyée et, par exemple, des crevettes saumurées fraîchement écloses.
Vidéo
Auteur
John de Lange
Images protégées par le droit d’auteur
Toni Wagner – Tonis-africancichlids.de
Jason Selong – Bigskycichlids.com
Ressources
Malawifreaks.nl (original website no longer online)
Aquagids.nl
Onzemalawicichliden.eu
Malawicichlidhomepage.com
Cichlid-forum.com
Bigskycichlids.com
