Lake Tanganyika Species • A dark laternal line on Burundi

[gpb210]

Hi all Fronts and Gibs fans,

I have been keeping three Burundi six-stripe (pond raised fry) for two months, ranging from 3-5 cm.
Sometimes, a dark line is found along the laternal line, crossing the alternate black & white stripe. I asked someone in local group. The answers are....
1. after inter-breeding for several generation...?genetic defect?
2. a commensal fungus along the line??
3. emotional line - appear in stressful, disappear in delightful???
4. features of Burundi which not found in gibberosa or Zaire blue????
Well... I am so confusing
How could I get rid of this dark line in my babies?

[lloyd]

since the lateral line is a sensory organ, working via vibration similar to our inner ear, then it 'sounds' (sic) logical that the line would be more visible if the fish were stressed. answers #1, #2, and #4 are excusable, IMHO. post a pic? HTH.

[cichlidgirl1]

I have burundi. I have raised them since they were one inch fry. I have seen this dark line that you are referring to. I have my tank in the living room where i can watch them for hours each day, i have noticed that the dark line comes and goes with mood and activity of the fish. All of the fish have this dark line, even as one inch fry up to the largest alpha. I have nice fish so i dont think it is from inbreeding, it seems to be more of a "body language" coloration for communication. Like when a alpha goes after a sub dominant fish, the subdominant fish goes all pale (loses all blue) , the black gets blacker and the dark line appears. For the alpha he gets the dark line when i rearrange the tank or swap a tank mate out and add a new one etc.. Personally i equate it with "unease" about something. Hope this helps.

[gpb210]

Thanks a lot :idea: .
Will this sensory dark line be found in Moba or other gibberosa?
Someone told me that Moba will not has such a dark line.

[cichlidgirl1]

I have not seen it in my mpimbwe fry, but i have a burundi fry in with them and i have seen it on that fish , so i suspect the answer is no, but dont quote me on it.

[lloyd]

Will this sensory dark line be found in Moba or other gibberosa?

yes. but variants like moba, get so dark overall when stressed, it might be less obvious to see.
here is an example of a juvenile burundi-type exposing lateral line while stressed:

and here is a male zaire showing slight lateral line exposure while calm:

[gpb210]

Thanks for both of your comments.
The picture that Lloyd shown is exactly the same as my burundi. So might i say that the heavy dark lateral line is a feature of burundi, espically for those pond raised and under stress. For other fronts/gibs, no such obvious line can be seen except for those variants.
The follow up question is "what does mean by variants?". Is that means geographical variants or inbreeding variants (not wild type). Secondly, how could we keep the fronts/gibs too happy to show off their contrasting six-stripes without the "dark line".
For me, apart from keeping the satisfactory pH, hardness, temp., I put a small mirror (shared by local group) inside the tank. It seems work. They always play/fight with their image .
P.S. regular water change is a must.

[lloyd]

[quote="gpb210"]So might i say that the heavy dark lateral line is a feature of burundi, espically for those pond raised and under stress. For other fronts/gibs, no such obvious line can be seen except for those variants.[/quote]
**yes...i would say it is more common to see lateral line exposure with juveniles of burundi type than compared to zaire variants. but do not assume the condition to be a negative one. it is better described as a sign of awareness or attentiveness. perhaps burundi types are more inquisitive? or more likely...they simply have bigger 'ears' than their southern cousins.
**for me...the term variant refers to recognized, or suspected differences, reproduced within a same species. an example of 'suspected difference', often involves geographical catch locations, until further investigation proves indifference or otherwise. an example of 'recognized differences', might include unique developmental features, such as scale patterning, or perhaps even an overtly exposed lateral line (j/k).

[cichlidgirl1]

Oops, double posted by accident LOL
CG

[cichlidgirl1]

Fronts are broken down into two catagories:
Frontosa and Gibberosa

Variant referres to the type and original collection point of the fish.
There are three (or 4) main groups for fronts and gibbs.

They are:
Burundi type,(frontosa)
Tanzanian and zambian,(gibberosa)
Zaire. (gibberosa)

These have slightly differnt masks, coloration etc...

The burundi, tanz,zambian and zaires all have several collection points in the lake. When variant is mentioned that is what they are reffering to : the type and collection point.

There is some debate on whether the differnt collection points of the group are all the same fish or not.For example the burundi collection points have some differences in coloration, one has more gold in the dorsal fin and one has 7 instead of 6 black stripes.The others look the same to me. There can be little doubt that 7 stripe is different compared to other burundi since there is a additional stripe on that fish. I believe they are reclassing the burundi frontosa so that the 7 stripe will be the only variant labeled as true frontosa. Many who have kept for example zaire feel that the variant Moba has slighlty deeper color or more vivid striping than the Kitumba . That is one example. They are both zaire, both gibberosa, just collected at different locations. It is possiable that the wild populations dont interbreed and do have ever so slight differences in mask or shade of blue etc...

Hope this helps.
CG