Thinface Cichlid

Description: moderately deep-bodied to deep-bodied; head large; snout long and protruding; mouth large; frontal profile concave; caudal fin slightly rounded to subtruncate (Ref. 52307).Coloration: body yellowish-brown or reddish-brown, darker brown on front of head and on back; numerous reddish to brown dots, often arranged into horizontal rows, on head and anterior body; numerous dark brown to orange-brown maculae in unpaired fins, especially soft dorsal and anal fin, sometimes also in pelvic fins; males with several small, orange egg spots in anal fin; juveniles more silvery in color, but eventually develop dots on head; courting males with dark belly and dark pelvic fins (Ref. 52307).

Female incubates eggs in her mouth. Parental care is exercised for a short while after hatching when the juveniles move off to shallow grassy areas and there they remain, in the Upper Zambezi, until floodwaters recede and force them back to the main river. They seek refuge in lagoons and backwaters until reaching a size large enough to avoid predation by tigerfish in the open waters of the river.

Occurs in well-vegetated swamps and along the edges of rivers (Ref. 6465). Also occurs in fast-flowing reaches over sand and rocks (Ref. 6465, 52307). Feeds primarily on small fish (Ref. 6465, 52307), also on shrimps and insects (Ref. 6465). A female (Ref. 52307) mouthbrooder which breeds in spring (Ref. 6465). Aalso caught with drawnets (Ref. 6465).

fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial