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 7.1 centimetres (2.8 in) SL.^[2] It is known to exist in a variety of geographically restricted varieties distinguished by differences in coloration. These are often given names such as "Nigerian red" or "Moliwe" that refer to the places where each variety is collected.

Slender krib
Male below, female at right
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cichliformes
Family:	Cichlidae
Genus:	Pelvicachromis
Species:	P. taeniatus
Binomial name
Pelvicachromis taeniatus (Boulenger, 1901)
Synonyms
Pelmatochromis taeniatus Boulenger, 1901 Pelmatochromis kribensis Boulenger, 1911 Pelviacachromis kribensis (Boulenger, 1911) Pelmatochromis calliptera Pellegrin, 1929 Pelmatochromis klugei Meinken, 1960 Pelmatochromis kribensis klugei Meinken, 1960 Pelmatochromis pulcher klugei Meinken, 1960 Pelmatochromis taeniatus klugei Meinken, 1960 P. taeniatus "Keinke" P. taeniatus "Lokundje" P. taeniatus "Moliwe" P. taeniatus "Bipindi" P. taeniatus species "Blue Fin" P. taeniatus "Bandewouri"

The species P. taeniatus formerly included populations from Cameroon. A 2014 study by Lamboj, Bartel & dell’Ampio found that the Cameroon populations were a different species from the Nigeria populations, and identified the Cameroon populations as belonging to the species Pelvicachromis kribensis and Pelvicachromis drachenfelsi.^[3] Lamboj, Bartel & dell’Ampio found that P. kribensis, P. drachenfelsi and P. taeniatus are closely related and form a clade within the genus Pelvicachromis, which they described as the "P. taeniatus group".^[3]

Courtship

During courtship the female displays her visually arresting purple pelvic fin

During courtship females display a large and visually arresting purple pelvic fin as a sexual ornament (see image left). "The researchers found that males clearly preferred females with a larger pelvic fin and that pelvic fins grew in a more disproportionate way than other fins on female fish."^[4][5]

References

1. Lalèyè, P. (2020). "Pelvicachromis taeniatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T182648A134880756. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T182648A134880756.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Pelvicachromis taeniatus". FishBase. April 2013 version.
3. Lamboj, A.; Bartel, D. & dell’Ampio, E. (2014). "Revision of the Pelvicachromis taeniatus-group (Perciformes), with revalidation of the taxon Pelvicachromis kribensis (Boulenger, 1911) and description of a new species". Cybium. 38 (3): 205–222. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
4. Female fish flaunt fins to attract a mate ScienceDaily. 8 October 2010.
5. Baldauf SA, TCM Bakker, F Herder, H Kullmann and T Thünken (2010) "Male mate choice scales female ornament allometry in a cichlid fish" BMC Evolutionary Biologr, 10 :301. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-301