''Astatotilapia flaviijosephi'', the Jordan mouthbrooder, is a
vulnerable species 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 ...
in the family
Cichlidae
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 thi ...
(cichlids).
[ It is found in the central ]Jordan River
The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...
system, including Lake Tiberias (Kinneret), in Israel, Jordan and Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, making it the only haplochromine
__NOTOC__
The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus (''Haplochromis'') plus a number of closely related genera such as '' Aulonocara'', '' Astat ...
cichlid to naturally range outside of Africa. This species is too small to be of significant importance to fisheries, unlike the only other cichlids native to the Levant, the economically important tilapias (''Oreochromis aureus
The blue tilapia (''Oreochromis aureus'') is a species of tilapia, a fish in the family Cichlidae. Native to Northern and Western Africa, and the Middle East, through introductions it is now also established elsewhere, including parts of the U ...
'', '' O. niloticus'', '' Sarotherodon galilaeus'', ''Coptodon zillii
The redbelly tilapia (''Coptodon zillii'', syn. ''Tilapia zillii''), also known as the Zille's redbreast tilapia or St. Peter's fish (a name also used for other tilapia in Israel), is a species of fish in the cichlid family. This fish is found ...
'' and ''Tristramella
''Tristramella'' is a genus of oreochromines, freshwater fishes in the cichlid family. The members of this genus prefer standing waters and their native range is restricted to the Jordan River system, including Lake Tiberias (Kinneret), in Isr ...
'').
The specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
''flaviijosephi'' refers to the historian Titus Flavius Josephus (37–c. 100 CE).
Habitat and conservation status
The natural habitats of ''A. flaviijosephi'' are streams, springs, canals, pools and shallow waters in lakes,[ especially in areas with stones or aquatic vegetation.][ The various subpopulations are isolated from each other, with some being lacustrine and others essentially riverine.][ The water temperature in its range vary quite significantly with season, at least from ,][ but aquarium studies have shown that ''A. flaviijosephi'' are almost completely inactive at the lowermost range.]
''A. flaviijosephi'' is threatened by habitat loss caused by drought, water extraction and pollution. It may also be threatened by introduced species, although they do not appear to have affected the Lake Tiberias population.[
]
Appearance
''A. flaviijosephi'' is the smallest 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 ...
native to its range.[ It reaches up to in total length,][ but most adults are about .][ Males grow larger than females.][
Like many other cichlids, its colour pattern varies with sex, age and mood; some of these colour changes can occur quite rapidly.][ The standard pattern is overall silvery–greyish to silvery– tan with a vertical dark or pale line below the eye. Males have a few relatively large yellow "egg–spots" on the ]anal fin
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...
and a few dotty orangish lines along the side of the body. When afraid they get about ten dark grey vertical bars on their body and when breeding two horizontal stripes. The latter pattern is stronger in courting males when most markings and colours become much more intense and contrasting, with blue–black underparts and a bright blue chin. Nursing females are also more contrastingly patterned than the standard breeding season pattern, but much less intense than the courting males.[
]
Behavior
Breeding
''A. flaviijosephi'' breeds in the spring and summer,[ and a female is able to spawn more than once in a season.][ Females will already breed when long and males when .][ Breeding males are highly ]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 ...
and will kill another adult male if he is unable to escape, as can happen if kept in an aquarium that is too small.[ Like other haplochromines, ''A. flaviijosephi'' is a mouthbrooder. The eggs are laid by the female and fertilized by the male in a small pit that he has dug in the bottom (otherwise the male does not participate in the brood care). Shortly after they are picked up by the female, which broods them in her mouth.][ The young are released after about two-and-a-half to five weeks when they are long.][ Brooding time depends on water temperature; it takes about twice as long at compared to .][ Sometimes the young are allowed to return to the female and seek security in her mouth for a couple of days after the release.][
]
Feeding
This cichlid is a predator that mostly feeds on small invertebrates,[ but also will take fish fry,][ tiny fish up to about half the size of the ''A. flaviijosephi'' itself and aquatic vegetation.][ Adult males mostly eat ]freshwater snail
Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...
s, while females mostly eat insects and their larvae (especially chironomids), worms and amphipod
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...
s.[ This difference in diet is also reflected in differences in the teeth of the sexes.][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1755013
flaviijosephi
Taxa named by Louis Charles Émile Lortet
Fish described in 1883
Cichlid fish of Asia
Fish of Israel
Fish of Syria
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN