bump for the troph and petro lovers
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Tropheus & Petrochromis Published Journal Links
Collapse
This is a sticky topic.
X
X
-
Just adding to the data bank!
"CONTRASTING PATTERNS OF SPATIAL GENETIC STRUCTURE IN SYMPATRIC ROCK-DWELLING CICHLID FISHES"I ate my fish that died.
Comment
-
So, to me this sentence from the study seems to summarizes their findings....
"The strikingly different patterns of population structure despite the sympatric distribution of Petrochromis and Simochromis species in this study area indicate that these species disperse in dramatically different ways within their shared habitat. One of the most prominent ecological differences between Petrochromis species and S. diagramma is the degree to which they are trophically specialized: although both genera are generally reliant on algal grazing in rocky habitat, S. diagramma’s ability to feed opportunistically may allow it to be more eurytopic than Petrochromis, which could facilitate longer-distance dispersal. This is supported by frequent observations of S. diagramma overmarginal and even sandy habitat, despite their prevalence within rocky habitat (C. Wagner, pers. obs.; Brichard 1989; Meyer et al. 1996)."
This leads me to wonder why petrochromis have not evolved to be more opportunistic eaters? This evolutionary step would greatly enhance their chance of survival. At first appearance, petrochromis look like they can go the distance between rocky isolated habitats without eating much b/c their body mass can handle the food shortage longer than the simo.
Additionally, I wish they did the study comparing tropheus vs petros rather then the simo. Tropheus are notorious for their inability to travel long distances between rocky habitats and I would have love to see if the gene diversification is reflective of the many color morphs that pop up in our tanks.I ate my fish that died.
Comment
-
Originally posted by cichlid1409 View Post15) http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/7/137 best one yet!!!! briefly goes into origins, such as fluctuations of water level causing species who were seperated to become mixed and interbreed. mainly it goes in depth about the genetic relationships of tropheus via mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. this link will show you which tropheus is related to which tropheus maternally (mitochondrial DNA) and a color coded map of the lake shows you how those species are spread out. this Link shows variants relation to different genetic markers of nuclear DNA (maternal and paternal). It seems that they have narrowed the family tree down to 4 main groups of origination: polli, brichardi, moori, and black (i.e. kaiser) .very good read if you can make it through the jargon.
Comment
-
Originally posted by myjohnson View PostThis leads me to wonder why petrochromis have not evolved to be more opportunistic eaters? This evolutionary step would greatly enhance their chance of survival. At first appearance, petrochromis look like they can go the distance between rocky isolated habitats without eating much b/c their body mass can handle the food shortage longer than the simo.
their size gives them a advantage in controlling territory to gain a mating, foraging advantage. also their size is a disadvantage for the type of behavior that simos maintain. alarger size requires more nutrients for upkeep and would confined to them to areas of higher algae growth.
also prolonged male territorial control and mating is very costly in terms of energy use and after maintaining this behavior for prolonged periods in the wild they lose weight and are forced to recover eventually travelling far distances wouldn't be logical at that point.
Comment
-
Good point, but the opposite would apply to tropheus. They are smaller and do not travel as well. Tropheus males also try to control territory to gain mating partners and maintaining a food source but they are smaller.I ate my fish that died.
Comment
-
"Diet predicts intestine length in Lake Tanganyika’s
cichlid fishes"
Studies a number of fishes in lake tang, not only tropheus and petros.
Relatively new study coming out in 2009.I ate my fish that died.
Comment
Comment