Cynotilapia aurifrons

Cynotilapia aurifrons

Cynotilapia aurifrons was described by Tawil in 2011. Before the official description, the name Cynotilapia sp. ”Mbamba” was used. However, he described the species in the new genus Microchromis. Due to disagreement about the validity of this genus, other scientists indicate that this species should be Cynotilapia. New research will show where this species will find its place.

The genus name Cynotilapia is made up of two words. Cyno comes from Latin and means dog. Tilapia was a collective genus for all kinds of cichlids from Africa in the 19th century. The name is a reference to the large canines in the mouth jaws of this genus.

The species name aurifrons comes from Latin and can be broken into two parts. Auri means gold and frons means forehead or eyebrow; a reference to the colouring of the males’ dorsal fin.

Description

In the wild, the males reach a maximum length of about 9 centimetres. The females usually stay a bit smaller. Because we give too much and too powerful food in the aquarium, they grow to a maximum of 14 centimetres. They grow about 2 centimetres taller than Cynotilapia zebroides to which they look a lot.

The colour of dominant males is most striking. They are very dark brown/black in colour. Small remnants of shiny blue can sometimes be found in the black. On the flank, they have 8 to 9 dark vertical stripes. The first of those stripes starts just behind the gill cover. These vertical black stripes are never connected at the top. They are interrupted by the golden dorsal fin. Between the black vertical bars, you see light blue shiny stripes that are often thinner than the black bars.

Cynotilapia aurifrons has an almost completely black mask on the head. Two irregular interorbital blue stripes contrast nicely with the black. The first is right in front of the eyes, the second diagonally above it. On the back edge of the gill cover, a blue iridescent colour is visible in black.

Fins

The dorsal fin of Cynotilapia aurifrons certainly stands out. In the dominant males, it is light blue at the edges with a gold band in between. The rear fin rays can turn black in the dorsal fin. The pectoral, ventral and anal fins are black with a thin light blue line on the front edge. The caudal fin is black with thin light blue lines. The edges of the caudal fin have the same gold / yellow colour as is visible in the dorsal fin.

Female coloration

The females are not as beautifully colored as the males. Subordinate females are mainly colored brown. Dominant females can darken a bit. They also show some stripes and sometimes some yellow in the fins but never as bright or dark as the males. Both in the wild and in the aquarium, the females also remain smaller than the males.

Locations and colors

The colors of mainly the males are partly dependent on the location. The geographic spread and isolation of the locations have resulted in local varieties. When purchasing Cynotilapia aurifrons, ask whether the catch location is known so that you can find suitable substitutes if you happen to lose a fish.

Biotope

The habitat of Cynotilapia aurifrons is in the northwest of Lake Malawi. Here you can find the typical variant with the gold-coloured dorsal fin. Similar fish from southwestern Lake Malawi with blue dorsal fin may also belong to this species.

They are usually found between the rocks and in the transition zones from sand to rocks. You can find them roughly at a depth of 3 to 40 meters. However, they are most commonly found at depths of 10 to 25 meters.

Diet

In the wild, Cynotilapia aurifrons mainly feed on plankton floating in the water. Only the territorial males who occupy a piece of rock feed differently from time to time. They also look for something edible in the aufwuchs.

In the aquarium, you can feed them spirulina, vegetable food and the occasional small bits of brine shrimp, daphnia and the like.

The Aquarium

The aquarium for Cynotilapia aurifrons needs a minimum length of 150 centimetres. After all, the males become big fish in the aquarium and are also territorial. Set up the aquarium with (filter) sand on the bottom. Place rocks with holes, cracks and crevices in between. In between, a male will make his territory. The female can escape the attention of the male between the rocks.

Since the males are territorial, you can keep only one male in an aquarium. Usually, you keep them in a harem, so one male with two or three females. Make sure that no species are kept in the aquarium that have the same pattern and colour.

The water can have a temperature of about 22 to 26 degrees Celsius. In the summer a few degrees higher is often not a problem, but keep a closer eye on your fish. Warm water can contain a little less oxygen than cooler water. The pH may be between 7.5 and 8.5.

Plants are not needed for the fish in the Malawi aquarium. If you still want to keep some plants, consider some hardy varieties. Valisneria, Java fern or Anubias are hardy plants that sometimes last a little longer with the Mbuna. Usually the Mbuna pick at the plants. Usually, plants won’t last very long.

Breeding Cynotilapia aurifrons

Like the other Malawi cichlids, Cynotilapia aurifrons is a maternal mouthbrooder, so the female incubates the eggs in her mouth. The male makes a breeding pit within his territory. For this, he chooses a spot in the sand next to a rock. The breeding pit is round in shape. The sand is picked up from the pit and spit out outside the pit.

The male shows his side to the female with vibrating movements, flaring his fins. He tries to lure her to his breeding pit with this. If the female follows him to the breeding pit, he continues his performance there.

Circling each other, the female lays her eggs in the sand. The male turns with her and fertilizes the eggs. In the same turn, the female picks up her eggs with her mouth. They keep doing this until all the eggs have been laid and the female has picked up the eggs. After this, the work is done for the male.

Raising the fry

The Cynotilapia aurifrons female hatches the eggs in her mouth. After a few days, the fry will hatch. However, they remain in the female’s mouth for a total of about three weeks. They feed on the egg yolk sack. The female does not eat at all during this time.

After three weeks the fry are big enough to take care of themselves. The female is looking for a place between the rocks to release the fry. Once released, the female does not take the young fish back into her mouth.

Saving all fry

In a normal aquarium, many of the fry end up as food for the other fish. If you want to keep more fry, you can catch the female around day 17 to 18. Place her in a somewhat smaller aquarium without tankmates. Set up the tank like a normal tank with some sand and a hiding place for the female. Once the female has spit out the fry, you can place her back with the other fish. This way you can have a lot more fry than if they are released in the regular aquarium.

You can feed the young fish with finely crushed flake food.

Video

Author

John de Lange

Copyright images

Mark Thomas – Marks Fiskenarie

References

Description of a new cichlid species from Lake Malawi, with reexamination of Cynotilapia afra (Gunther, 1893) and Microchromis zebroides Johnson, 1975
Fishbase.se
Cichlidae.com