The convict julie (''Julidochromis regani'') is a cichlid

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 ...

in the subfamily

Pseudocrenilabrinae The Pseudocrenilabrinae are a subfamily in the cichlid family of fishes to which, according to a study from 2004, includes all the Middle Eastern and African cichlids with the exception of the unusual '' Heterochromis multidens'' and the Malag ...

family endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Hence it is found in Burundi, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

, and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. The fish is named after

Charles Tate Regan Charles Tate Regan FRS (1 February 1878 – 12 January 1943) was a British ichthyologist, working mainly around the beginning of the 20th century. He did extensive work on fish classification schemes. Born in Sherborne, Dorset, he was educat ...

. This species is closely related to '' Julidochromis marlieri''. Possibly, a male common ancestor of these two

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

ised with some female ''

Telmatochromis __NOTOC__ ''Telmatochromis'' is a small cichlid genus of the subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae. These ray-finned fishes are endemic to the Lake Tanganyika basin (mostly in the lake itself, but also its outflow river Lukuga) in Africa. Systematic ...

'' ancestor in their

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

ary past. (2007): Phylogenetic relationships of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid tribe Lamprologini: The story from mitochondrial DNA. '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 45(2): 629–642. (HTML abstract)

Description

''Julidochromis regani'' is a small (up to TL)

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

. Its pale to golden yellow body is slender and elongated. A varying black stripe pattern, depending on which part of the lake the fish originates from, is present. However, ''Julidochromis regani'' all have four slender

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Healthcare *Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction * Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle * Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap Phonetics *Lateral co ...

black stripes that run the length of the body, although some variations have the fourth stripe exclusively on the head. On the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

the stripes are vertical. The outer edge of the caudal,

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

and anal fins is white, while the

pectoral 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 ...

s are yellow. Sexing is difficult, but males do have a small

genital papilla The genital papilla is an anatomical feature of the external genitalia of some animals. In mammals In mammals, the genital papilla is a part of female external genitalia not present in humans, which appears as a small, fleshy flab of tissue. The p ...

and females are generally plumper than the male.

Ecology

It is

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

. Pairs are largely monogamous, though instances of

polyandry Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives ...

, with the female taking more than one mate, have been recorded in both the wild and the aquarium. It is a secretive biparental substrate spawner, retreating to caves or rock crevices for protection and breeding.

In the aquarium

''Julidochromis regani'' are small-growing

dwarf cichlid Dwarf cichlid is a term used by fishkeeping hobbyists to describe an arbitrary assemblage of small-sized fish from the family Cichlidae. Although the grouping is widely used in the aquarium industry and hobby, the grouping has no taxonomic or ...

s and easy to spawn and care for if their basic needs are fulfilled. Like all Lake Tanganyika cichlids, ''Julidochromis regani'' are best maintained in hard alkaline water, with a pH of 8.5 - 9.0 and a hardness of 12-14 kH, and in aquaria no smaller than . Only one species of ''

Julidochromis ''Julidochromis'' is a genus of cichlids in the subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae. They are commonly called julies and are endemic to Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa. This genus includes six formally described species, some with a number local var ...

'' should be kept in any single aquarium, as the species within this genus tend to hybridise easily. Hybridisation with ''

Chalinochromis ''Chalinochromis'' is a small cichlid genus from the subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae. These ray-finned fishes are endemic to Lake Tanganyika in the East African Rift. The scientific name refers to the bridle-like markings across the heads of ...

'' (which might belong in ''Julidochromis'') and ''

'' is suspected, and it is common enough in

Lamprologini Lamprologini is a tribe of African cichlid fishes. It contains seven genera and nearly 100 species. Over half of the species in this tribe are in the large genus ''Neolamprologus''. Most genera in the tribe are endemic to Lake Tanganyika, but on ...

to better avoid keeping more than one species of this

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 is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

per aquarium. The tank should be decorated with rocks to form caves and passageways as shelter; like many other Rift Valley cichlids, they tend to be territorial and somewhat aggressive. It is therefore best to keep them with other cichlids to defuse their rowdy behavior. Fry can stay with the parents and should be fed protein-rich foods such as baby brine shrimp. Parents can sometimes be found leading their fry around the aquarium. Breeding is, as usual in these social and intelligent fishes, easiest achieved by acquiring a stock of juveniles and letting them grow up together until pair-bonds are established.

References

External links

* Care information for the home aquarium at the Aquarium Wiki {{Taxonbar, from=Q1460298 convict julie Fishkeeping Fish of Lake Tanganyika Fish described in 1942 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Description

Ecology

In the aquarium

References

Further reading

External links