Eretmodini is a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n
cichlid
Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...
s.
It contains five
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
freshwater fish
Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
. They are small fish with reduced
swim bladder
The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled Organ (anatomy), organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their curren ...
s that are found near the bottom in the turbulent, coastal
surf zone
As ocean surface waves approach shore, they get taller and break, forming the foamy, bubbly surface called ''surf''. The region of breaking waves defines the surf zone, or breaker zone. After breaking in the surf zone, the waves (now reduced i ...
.
[Smith, M.P. (1998). Lake Tanganyikan Cichlids, p. 10. ] They are
mouthbrooder
Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...
s.
[
]
Genera
There are three genera, consisting of five species in the tribe:Eretmodus
''Eretmodus'' is a genus of cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa.
Species
There are currently two recognized species in this genus:
* '' Eretmodus cyanostictus'' Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname inc ...
'' Boulenger, 1898
*''Spathodus
''Spathodus'' is a small genus of cichlids endemis to Lake Tanganyika in east Africa.
Species
There are currently two recognized species in this genus:
* '' Spathodus erythrodon'' Boulenger, 1900
* '' Spathodus marlieri'' Poll
Poll, polled, ...
'' Boulenger, 1900
*''Tanganicodus
The spotfin goby cichlid (''Tanganicodus irsacae'') is an African species of cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it is only known from the northern end of the lake. They live amongst pebbles in the surf-zone. This species can reach a len ...
'' Poll, 1950
References
External links
* http://ctdbase.org/detail.go?type=taxon&acc=319068
*
Pseudocrenilabrinae
*
Cichlid fish of Africa
{{cichlid-stub