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Xenotilapia rotundiventralis

9K views 48 replies 10 participants last post by  Multi 
#1 ·
Hello!

Finally I got my Xenotilapia rotundiventralis. I found them in a place in Germany in January this year, and finally they arrived at my house at April 17 2012. There is so little information about this species on the internet, so I would hear if there is anyone others there have them? It is a very nice species. :)
They all survived the shipment from Germany to Denmark, so now I have 20 of them swimming around in my 360 liters aquarium in the basement. They are so fine.

When they arrived, they had some dark markings all around the body, but they don’t have it any more. Sometimes a little bit at night, but otherwise they are silver with these beautiful blue and shiny dots or stripes, down along the side of the body. They were pretty shy when they arrived, but they quickly lost some of their skittish behavior, and I am surprised how little shy they are now. 19 of them are swimming around near the front of the aquarium, a little bit above the sand bottom, and sometimes one of them swims down to take mouthful of sand, but they are not sandshifting alot. They all swim together, but a single fish have chosen to be under a large rock in the aquarium. If I take a finger to the glass, in front of where the fish is, it raises all the fins, and tries to chase me away. :) Why do you think that it does that? It doesn’t look sick, but I also think that it can’t already have found a territory that it protects so strongly?

I think that they feel more and more like â€Å"homeâ€Â
 
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#3 ·
#6 ·
No, Creepy85. The correct name of this species is Xenotilapia rotundiventralis. Earlier it was named Microdontochromis rotundiventralis, but in 2003 it was removed to the Xenotilapia genus, and is now named X. rotundiventralis. Many still often call this species for Microdontochromis rotundiventralis (including me), but the correct name is Xenotilapia rotundiventralis. ;)
 
#7 ·
#13 ·
Vamze said:
Creepy85 said:
With the Name is just like the same with the genius Enantiopus...

in germany always called microdontochromis....

http://xenotilapia.npage.de/microdontoc ... nangu.html
Doesn't really matter what you call it. It matters what science calls it.
doesn´t matter which science you mean....

in german science on the TU(Technical University) Munich called this fish microdontochromis....
 
#14 ·
Creepy85 said:
...in german science...
The species was first described in 1997 by Takahashi, Yanagisawa and Nakaya.

Later, in a revision of the genus Xenotilapia, (BY THE SAME GUY WHO DISCOVERED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE) Takahashi, T. 2003: Systematics of Tanganyikan cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes). Ichthyological Research It was described as Xenotilapia Rotundiventralis.

Here are some links if you want to read the articles youself.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k5qd8w1a4dv7nyd4/

http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/S ... lue=649579
 
#16 ·
Vamze said:
Creepy85 said:
...in german science...
The species was first described in 1997 by Takahashi, Yanagisawa and Nakaya.

Later, in a revision of the genus Xenotilapia, (BY THE SAME GUY WHO DISCOVERED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE) Takahashi, T. 2003: Systematics of Tanganyikan cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes). Ichthyological Research It was described as Xenotilapia Rotundiventralis.

Here are some links if you want to read the articles youself.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k5qd8w1a4dv7nyd4/

http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/S ... lue=649579
This Discription of fishes is ok, but the Name is Nonses....look to the genus metriaclima or maylandia....
Every scientist called the fish like he did...

try to ask michael näf in our forum tanganjika-forum.de
 
#17 ·
Nice photos, interesting cichlid.

On the genus. We do not have to accept Takahashi's move of the species from Microdontochromis to Xenotilapia (2003) if we think it was done in error or the reasons for the move not good. It is far from a typical Xenotilapia. But I do not know enough about it to give an opinion one way or another. Nor willing to pay to read the papers. :oops:
Not sure if there is a consensus on this.
Fishbase go with Xenotilapia.
But CRC still go with Microdontochromis http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/genus. ... 64&lang=en
There are no rules governing generic assignments, only opinions. :thumb:

For sure there is a lot written about it as Microdontochromis, (its name from 1997 to at least 2003) so well worth including that on any search for info.

All the best James
 
#18 ·
I also call this species for Microdontochromis, but i thought that i would name this thread Xenotilapia rotundiventralis, because I think that is the right name now. But most people still call it Microdontochromis, and it is also under that name you will find most information on the internet. :)
 
#19 ·
24Tropheus said:
Nice photos, interesting cichlid.

On the genus. We do not have to accept Takahashi's move of the species from Microdontochromis to Xenotilapia (2003) if we think it was done in error or the reasons for the move not good. It is far from a typical Xenotilapia. But I do not know enough about it to give an opinion one way or another. Nor willing to pay to read the papers. :oops:
Not sure if there is a consensus on this.
Fishbase go with Xenotilapia.
But CRC still go with Microdontochromis http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/genus. ... 64&lang=en
There are no rules governing generic assignments, only opinions. :thumb:

For sure there is a lot written about it as Microdontochromis, (its name from 1997 to at least 2003) so well worth including that on any search for info.

All the best James
While this is certainly true, we must also keep in mind that these are peer-reviewed science papers, that are widely regarded as facts.

You can also have your own opinion on gravity, but that doesn't change the fact that if you jump off a bridge, it is very real.

Now, while I do go to university, I don't study biology, so I doubt I will be able to make any claims or conclusions whether Takashi is correct or not. I will, however, not disregard his paper as "fiction" as some people seem to be doing.
 
#20 ·
Peer review is happening as it usualy does in Zoology, mainly after publication.
Peer review before publication is not to see if it should be accepted as fact but to ensure it is good enough to be published.
I guess as many are not accepting the name change, they do not agree with it rather than are ignoring it.
I did/do study Zoology and am afade name changes are not fixed in stone from one publication to the next but usage after the paper tends to be the deciding factor.
That and later genus reviews.

All the best James
 
#22 ·
24Tropheus said:
Peer review before publication is not to see if it should be accepted as fact but to ensure it is good enough to be published.
:roll: "Good enough to be published" is based on sufficient evidence, sound scientific method, research rational and yes- hypothesis testing concluding with factual results. To call this a generic assignment makes me wonder what you'd call a specific assignment. :D
 
#23 ·
triscuit said:
24Tropheus said:
Peer review before publication is not to see if it should be accepted as fact but to ensure it is good enough to be published.
:roll: "Good enough to be published" is based on sufficient evidence, sound scientific method, research rational and yes- hypothesis testing concluding with factual results. To call this a generic assignment makes me wonder what you'd call a specific assignment. :D
Generic as in genus. Specific as in species. (not hard :wink: )

Interestingly the paper seems to contain no hypothesis testing, just an assertion, that many seem to disagree with.

Proof by assertion, an assertion as opposed to an argument............. is not acceptable.

I for sure dunno if the guys in charge of this forum or CRC or the Scientific community will eventualy follow fishbase and accept this generic re assignment. But given the time lag, prob not?

All the best James
 
#24 ·
It still works very well with the fish. I lost a fish a few days after they had arrived, but there were also two of fish, which in the beginning seemed quite stressful, so I think it was one of those who died...

But then I think, I also lost one last Saturday after waterchange! But I was so careful, so I don't understand how that could happen? Is there anyone who have any advice for how to avoid the accident happening again?
I placed a water hose in the top of the aquarium, in one of the corners, and the other end of the hose in a sink. So I didn't removed the hose at all, before I had taken 1/4 of the aquarium water out, so I can't have stressed the fish that way.
I filled up with water at about the same temperature as in the aquarium, usually I fill my aquariums with a little bit colder water, but i wouldn't risk to give them "cold shock".
None of the fish seemed stressed under the waterchange or after, therefore it suprised me a little bit that one of the fish died... All of the fish seems fresh.
If anyone could share their own experiences to avoid this, it would be really nice.
 
#25 ·
With delicate WC I always pre age my water change water for 24 hours, airating it and warming it throughout. Then check its pH and KH and GH matches the tank water. Then treat with baking soda and or epsom salts if needed, then use a good chloramine remover like Seachem Prime or Safe (Just in case the water supplier has added chloramines to combat a bacterial surge) .(Once did a big water change and wiped out half my WC stock before doing this). Kind of suprised they were so delicate as well though. It may be something else making them delicate like some sort of pathogen imported with/in them or one that just has not made it very well into captivity (shipping further weekening a week or infected fish).

Any trace of ammonia or nitrite in a new tank can be very bad for WC being so stressed already by the move into captivity and recent shipping. Seachem prime or safe will help detoxify these but not remove them. Carbon filtration is about the only thing that does that and that will starve your biological filters. Its kind of all or nothing with chemical filtration. Do it well and rely on it or stay away from it.

But saying all that. Some WC do not make it, whatever I try.

All the best James
 
#26 ·
Thankyou for your answer!
I once checked our water parameters in the water from the sink, and they were pretty much the same as in the aquarium. Especially if I water change with warm water, I am very aware with that. But we have just got a new sink, a whole new kitchen in the basement actually, so I don't know if it may have changed the water parameters or something ... I'll check that before the next water change!
But maybe I just was unlucky. As I wrote, there was two fish in the start, which was more stressed than the others, and now I have lost two fish.
I just hope I don't loose more than that in the near future. :)
 
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