Eggsnatching: an observation on the feeding behaviour of Haplochromis barbarae Greenwood, 1867 (Pisces, Cichlidae)
1981
Witte-Maas, E.L.M. (Rijksuniversiteit Leiden (Netherlands). Zoologisch Lab.)
Haplochromis (=Astatotilapia) barbarae, an endemic cichlid species of Lake Victoria, belongs to a trophic group feeding on eggs, embryos and buccal larvae of haplochromines. At least 18 species (Wilhelm, 1980; pers. obs.) of this trophic category are presently known, of which only 8 have been described (Greenwood, 1959, 1967). Except for H. barbarae and H. cronus, all other species share a number of diagnostic features: e.g. a large protrusible mouth, small and deeply embedded teeth (Greenwood, 1959, 1974) and characteristic morphological differentiation of the palatine region of the suspensorium (Barel et al., 1976). These characteristics suggest that snout engulfing of brooding females, followed by powerful sucking, is the technique for collecting this food type (Greenwood, 1959, 1974; Barel et al., 1977: figs. 45, 64). Aquarium observations on one of the undescribed species confirmed this hypothesis (Wilhelm, 1980) and it is supposed that the other species, sharing the above mentioned morphological features, apply the same technique (Wilhelm, 1980). Although it feeds on haplochromine eggs, H. barbarae lacks the particular habitus and anatomical features of the "snoutengulfing species"; morphologically it resembles the generalized, insectivorous species (Greenwood, 1967, 1974; Barel et al., 1976). Therefore and on the basis of its stomach contents (recently fertilized ova; Greenwood, 1967; pers. obs.), it was suggested that the species might snatch eggs during spawning (Barel et al., 1977: fig. 64). Recently the feeding behaviour of a wild caught H. barbarae could be observed in an aquarium.
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