The African jewelfish (''Hemichromis bimaculatus''), also known as jewel cichlid or jewelfish, is from the family Cichlidae.

Description

''Hemichromis bimaculatus'' can grow up to long.SeriouslyFish:
Hemichromis bimaculatus.
' . ''H. bimaculatus'' are red with fine "jewel-like" blue spots and three dark spots on the sides, the first on the opercle, the second in the middle of the body, the third at the base of the tail. These colorful fishes are popular among fishkeepers, but they are unsuitable for typical

community aquarium Community aquaria are tanks that are designed to contain more than one species of fish. Most commonly they include a variety of species that do not normally occur together in nature, for example angelfish from Brazil, swordtails from Mexico, and ...

s because of their aggressive

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

behavior, especially when breeding.

Distribution and habitat

The species originates from

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

(hence its name), with additional reports (possibly other '' Hemichromis'' species) from

Middle Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Eq ...

and the

Nile Basin The Nile Basin is the part of Africa drained by the Nile River and its tributaries. Besides being the second largest hydrographic basin in Africa, the Nile Basin is effectively the most notable drainage basin on the continent. It covers approxi ...

. These fishes are found in rivers, stream and canals, especially in forested regions where vegetation overhangs the water surface. It has often been reported that ''H. bimaculatus'', the true African jewelfish, is found throughout a large part of Africa, but this is–at least in part–because of taxonomic uncertainty. It is certainly found in

, but it remains unclear if it is the same species in

and the

. The same confusion exists elsewhere, as '' Hemichromis'' have been introduced to regions far from their native Africa. For example, it has commonly been reported that the true African jewelfish, ''H. bimaculatus'', is the species introduced to the United States, specifically

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

(and spreading), but this involves the related '' H. letourneuxi''.Nonindigenous Aquatic Species:
Hemichromis letourneuxi .
'

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

. Retrieved 18 December 2014. Another relative that has become popular in the aquarium trade is '' H. lifalili'', but it is easily recognized by lacking a dark spot at the base of the tail.

In the aquarium

Water parameters

The African jewelfish needs slightly acidic water (generally pH 6.0–7.8) and warm water () in order to thrive in captivity. Because of the aggressive

behavior, it is often recommended keeping the species alone, but in large aquariums they can be kept with

Congo tetra The Congo tetra (''Phenacogrammus interruptus'') is a species of fish in the African tetra family, found in the central Congo River Basin in Africa. It is commonly kept in aquaria. Description The Congo tetra has a typical full-bodied tetra ...

s, '' Synodontis'' catfish and other robust species. Nevertheless, while breeding it is generally recommended that the pair is isolated.

Reproduction

When the African jewelfish is ready to breed, females will turn a deep red color to let the male know. The male and female will bond or jawlock and the male will release sperm on the

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

. The female will then lay the eggs on a flat surface. The female will protect her eggs and will kill anything that comes in close proximity. In a couple of days the eggs will hatch and the female will still protect them. The female can reproduce every three weeks. Jewel fish are 3 to 4 to 10 cm long.

Diet

The African Jewelfish are omnivorous. They feed on

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

, and

Caridina ''Caridina'' is a genus of freshwater atyid shrimp. They are widely found in tropical or subtropical water in Asia, Oceania and Africa. They are filter-feeders and omnivorous scavengers. They range from 0.9–9.8 mm ('' C. cantonensis'') t ...

. Caridina are associated with shrimps and prawns. African Jewelfish can also eat some

plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...

, such as algae and other weeds, as well as debris. When in captivity, African jewelfish can live on a varied diet of commercial frozen, live, flakes, and pellets as they usually accept mostly all forms of

fish food Aquarium fish feed is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods normally contain macronutrients, trace elements and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximatel ...

. They also eat algae wafers and shrimp pellets. They can be easily compared to the bottom feeding fish in an aquarium, as they like to eat the algae and other debris that forms in the

fish tank An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amp ...

. African jewelfish are also known to eat their own young practicing

filial cannibalism Filial cannibalism occurs when an adult individual of a species consumes all or part of the young of its own species or immediate offspring. Filial cannibalism occurs in many animal species ranging from mammals to insects, and is especially prevalen ...

. They also enjoy live shrimp and do sometimes bite fingers.

References

Aquarium Life