Lake Victoria Rock Cichlids

by Ole Seehausen


This is the first popular book about Lake Victoria cichlids, and it reports about a species assemblage that is largely new to aquarists and scientists alike. The 173 species discussed constitute a Mbuna-like group of Lake Victoria cichlids, that was previously believed not to exist!
Most emphasis is laid upon the presentation of the various species-complexes and species, with much new information about distribution, ecology, and behaviour in their natural environment. For this purpose underwater work using SCUBA was done for the first time in lake Victoria. High time therefore to look at Lake Victoria's rock cichlids more carefully....
The book is illustrated with 400 colour photos, maps, and drawings. It has 304 pages, a hardcover, and a size of 6" x 9.5".
 
CONTENTS page
Preface by Les Kaufman 7
Introduction 9
Lake Victoria: climate, limnology and history 13
The cichlid species flock 20
The Mbipi, overlooked subflocks like the Mbuna of Lake Malawi? 25
Taxonomy of rock-dwelling cichlids 29
Habitat and ecology of rock-dwelling cichlids 36
Keeping and breeding of rock-dwelling cichlids 44
Identification of rock-dwelling haplochromine cichlids 58
Introduction to the species discussions 63
Vertical bar Mbipi 66
Chessboard Mbipi 146
Rock-dwelling cichlid species of other lineages 179
Frequent intruders from other habitats 250
Astatoreochromis, Oreochromis and Tilapia at rocky shores 258
Non-cichlid fishes from rocky shores 263
Evolution of rock-dwelling cichlids 269
Conservation of rocky shores and their fish 278
Distribution maps 281
Tables with taxonomic measurements 291
References 296
Species index 302