''Pelvicachromis silviae'' is a species of cichlid in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Pelvicachromis ''Pelvicachromis'' is a genus of small (), brightly coloured cichlids from tropical West Africa and Central Africa. They typically inhabit soft, acidic water ( pH 5.6 – 6.9). All species form monogamous pairs and use caves as spawning sites. M ...

''. It is found in the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

, in the same region as congeners ''

Pelvicachromis pulcher ''Pelvicachromis pulcher'' is a Fresh water, freshwater fish of the cichlid family, endemic to Nigeria and Cameroon. It is popular amongst aquarium hobbyists, and is most commonly sold under the name Paralabidochromis, kribensis, although it has ...

'' and ''

Pelvicachromis taeniatus ''Pelvicachromis taeniatus'' is a species of cichlid from Benin and Nigeria that is occasionally kept as an aquarium fish. It is native to the soft-water rivers. This species can reach a length of SL. It is known to exist in a variety of geog ...

''. It was described by

Anton Lamboj Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

in 2013. Prior to its formal description it was relatively common in the aquarium fish hobby, denoted as either a subspecies of ''

Pelvicachromis subocellatus ''Pelvicachromis'' is a genus of small (), brightly coloured cichlids from tropical West Africa and Central Africa. They typically inhabit soft, acidic water ( pH 5.6 – 6.9). All species form monogamous pairs and use caves as spawning sites. ...

'' or as an undescribed species similar to ''P. subocelatus'', ''Pelvicachromis sp. aff. subocellatus.'' Lamboj concurs that it is more closely related to ''P. subocellatus'' than to other ''Pelvocachromis'' species and regards it as part of the ''P. subocellatus'' group within the genus ''Pelvicachromis''. Lamboj named ''P. silviae'' after his wife Silvia, to thank her for supporting his scientific work. Although similar in appearance to ''P. subocellatus'' and the more common ''P. pulcher'', it has a deeper body than either species. The main body color is pale or yellowish brown, with a dark horizontal stripe across the middle of its body and a second dark stripe beneath 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 dark stripes can fade under certain circumstances, such as dominance displays and courtship, and at times vertical bands can appear on the body, particularly while caring for fry. Males have more pointed fins and females have a metallic band on their dorsal fin. Males have a red and white margins on the top of the dorsal fin and on the top rear edge of the

caudal 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 ...

, and the anal fin is red with many blue dots. The female has a red or purple belly, which becomes brighter and edged in iridescent white or blue during courtship. Males can grow to up to long, excluding the caudal fin. It is a cave spawner similar to other ''Pelvicachromis'' species. Soft, mildly acidic water is beneficial for breeding, although they can breed in hard, slightly alkaline water. Both parents guard the eggs and fry until they are 5 to 8 weeks old, although the female does so more intensely. The fry hatch about three days after spawning and are free swimming about eight or nine days later.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21313703 Endemic fauna of Nigeria silviae Freshwater fish of Africa Taxa named by Anton Lamboj Fish described in 2013