• Index

  Bienvenue dans le centre d'information internet des cichlidae!

  Infos

  • Quoi de neuf?
  • Infos
  • Notifications
  • Flux RSS
  • facebook

  Sito web

  • Introduction
  • Plan du site
  • Auteurs
  • Copains
  • Sponsors

  Règlement

  • Souscrire
  • Sponsor
  • Contribution
  • Termes
  • Contact
• Contenu

  Information sur les cichlidés

  Catalogue

  • Cichlidés
  • Éco-régions
  • Fond d'écran
  • Identitifier

  Librairie

  • Bibliothèque
  • Indexed
  • Bibliothèque
  • Clubs

  Documents

  • Articles
  • Aquariums de reproduction
  • Interviews
  • Fishroom lectures
• Sections

  Colonnes éditoriales

  • Editorial
  • Cichlidés et Sciences
  • Focus Central America
  • Checklists du Malawi
  • Tribu des ectodini
  • Tropheus basics
  • Fanatiques des Furu
• Ask Pam

  ask Pam all your cichlid questions (English)

  

  Pam Chin has been replying to cichlid questions for over twenty years. Highly respected and experienced aquarist, Pam has visited cichlid habitats around the world, and bred in her's and her husband Gary fish house hundreds of cichlid species. Besides her job, she still devotes time to help any person with a cichlid question!

• Forum

  cichlid forum (English)

  Cichlid talk

  • Central American
  • South American
  • Discus
  • Madagascar
  • Lake Malawi
  • Lake Tanganyika
  • Tribe Ectodini
  • Tropheines
  • Lake Victoria
  • Asian
  • Other African
  • Dwarf
  • General

  Cichlid topics

  • Announcements
  • Suggestions
  • For Beginners
  • Taxonomy
  • Cichlid Behaviour
  • Cichlid Conservation
  • Cichlid Health
  • Equipment
  • Filtration
  • In Memoriam
  • General Fish Topics
  • Upcoming Events
  • OCA
• Boutique

  Visitez la boutique de Cichlid Room Companion

  Articles à la vente Articles PDF relatifs à tous les sujets concernant les cichlidés, joliment mis en pages et merveilleusement illustrés.

  Livres à vendre Livres sur les cichlidés et DVD à vendre par Cichlid Room Companion.

  E-books à vendre Copies PDF de livres cichlidophiles populaires à vendre au meilleur prix.

  Trade section The master list of cichlid offers ordered by area and species name.

• Page de connexion
  • Souscrire

---

Central American cichlids from various phylogenetic groups show a stricking color polymorphism in natural populations that remind at the polymorphisms known from haplochromine cichlids in the great lakes of the African rift valley. Beside the normal color morph, these species show an alternative color morph which is usually named "golden" or "yellow" morph. These alternative morphs are characterized by a ground coloration that ranges from whitish to yellow to orange, and covers sometimes only parts but usually the full body.

The alternative color morphs coexist apparently stable in the same habitats with the normal morphs. The color pattern of fish have important biological functions including camouflage and communication. It can thus be assumed that aberrantly colored individuals have severe disadvantages in terms of survival (e.g. higher conspicuousness to predators) and maybe even in terms of reproductive succes (e.g. disadvantages in mate choice or in communication during courtship (mate-mate-interactions) and breeding (parents-offspring-interactions)). If this is the case, golden morphs should be counterselected by natural and sexual selection and become extinct. Apparently, the alternative morphs can at least partially cope with the potential disadvantages. Although the questions on the stability of such color polymorphisms has been adressed by George Barlow and his students, our knowlege about this phenomenon is still fragmentary.

Golden morphs have been reported from following Central American cichlids:

Species	Location	Reference
Amphilophus citinellus	Lago Nicaragua, Nicaragua	Meek, 1907; Barlow, 1976
Amphilophus labiatus	Lago Nicaragua, Nicaragua	Barlow & Munsey, 1976
Amphilophus sagittae	Laguna de Xiloa, Nicaragua	McKaye, et. al., 2002; Stauffer & McKaye, 2002
Amphilophus xiloaensis	Laguna de Xiloa, Nicaragua	McKaye, et. al., 2002; Stauffer & McKaye, 2002
Herichthys minckleyi	Cuatro Cienegas, México	Konings, 1994
Parachromis dovii	Laguna Arenal, Costa Rica	Barlow, 1972
Petenia splendida	Rio Candelaria, Guatemala; White Water Creek, Belize	Hubbs, 1935; Stawikowski & Werner, 1998
Vieja fenestrata	Lago Catemaco, México	Staeck, 1998

Références:

• Barlow, George W. & J. W. Munsey. 1976. "The red devil-midas-arrow cichlid species complex in Nicaragua". Investigations of the ichthyofauna of Nicaraguan Lakes . pp. 363-369 (crc00011).
• Hubbs, Carl Leavitt. 1935. "Fresh-water fishes collected in British Honduras and Guatemala". Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Zoology, Univ. of Michigan. (n. 28); pp. 13-15 (crc00252).
• Konings, Ad. 1994. "An extremely rare colour morph of Herichthys minckleyi". The Cichlids Yearbooks. v. 4; pp. 68-69 (crc00888).
• Stauffer, Jay Richard Jr. & McKaye. 2002. "Descriptions of Three New Species of Cichlid Fishes (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Xiloá, Nicaragua". Cuadernos de investigacion de la Universided de Centro América. v. 12; 1-18 (crc00010) (résumé).

© Copyright 2005 Michi Tobler, all rights reserved

Citation:

Tobler, Michi. (août 12, 2005). "Color polymorphisms in Central American cichlids". The Cichlid Room Companion. Consulté le mai 18, 2013, de: http://www.cichlidae.com/section.php?id=26&lang=fr.