Telmatochromis temporalis
Telmatochromis temporalis is a monogamous, biparental substrate brooding cichlids fish endemic to Lake Tanganyika. The east African great lakes Tanganyika, Malawi and Victoria are well known for the adaptive radiation and rapid speciation of cichlids.
It has 2 forms that vary in size (dimorphic), and live in 2 different habitats in multiple sections of the lake.
These are the:
- normal form which occurs lake-wide along the shallow rocky shores and breeds in rock crevices
- dwarf form which shows a patchy distribution and inhabits and breeds within shell beds formed by the accumulation of empty gastropod shells
Species detail
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Taxonomy
This species has 2 forms called the normal morph and the dwarf morph that live in separate microhabitats within Lake Tanganyika. Find out more about this fish and its relatives.
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Distribution
Telmatochromis temporalis is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, one of the oldest lakes on earth. 2 different forms of the fish live in separate parts of the lake. Read on to find out more about this fish’s habitat.
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Biology
Telmatochromis temporalis is a monogamous fish that can vary in colour depending on its microhabitat. Find out more.
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Behaviour
This fish exhibits ‘reproductive parasitism’. Sometimes larger males intrude on another’s nest, fertilise the eggs and leave the former male to carry out parental duties. Find out more about the behaviour of this fish.
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References
Get reference material for Telmatochromis temporalis.
About the author
Mr Kai Winkelmann
PhD Student, Department of Zoology
A word from the author
"Telmatochromis temporalis is an ideal candidate to study hypotheses of ecological speciation as it shows a dimorphism in body size (normal and dwarf form) that evolved independently at several localities. The 2 body size forms correlate with the substrate type they live on - the normal form is found along shallow rocky shores whereas the dwarf form is found in accumulations of empty gastropod shell beds."
