Information on types of Frontosa
- Thread starter Red Devil
- Start date
This is the information i dug up so far... never knew this would get so complex so fast...
Gibberosa is the new species name for the Southern Varients of Frontosa. Much like any species from Zambian Coastline southern Tanzanian coastline and the southern zaire coastline have species like Zaire Blue,moba, Nangu, Nsumbu,Ikola,Kipili and Mpimbwe,bismark,samazi are all identified as C.Gibberosa..
They are different enough from the northern varients to recently warrent a separate species name.
So technically the Zaires and such are no longer Frontosa.
The north Varients would include Burundi, Kavala, Karilani..
Variations: C.Gibberosa --- "blue Zaire" Moba
C. Gibberosa--- " Blue Zaire" Kapampa
C. Gibberosa--- " Blue Zambia" Chaitika
C. Gibberosa--- " Blue Mpimbwe" Mpimbwe
C. Gibberosa--- "Bismark" Samazi"
C. Gibberosa--- "Blue Fluorescent" Nangu
C. Gibberosa --- "Blue" Ikola
C.Frontosa ---- " 7 strips" kigoma
C. sp. ---- North Burundi
C. sp. ---- North Kavalla
C. sp. ---- North Karilani
Gibberosa is the new species name for the Southern Varients of Frontosa. Much like any species from Zambian Coastline southern Tanzanian coastline and the southern zaire coastline have species like Zaire Blue,moba, Nangu, Nsumbu,Ikola,Kipili and Mpimbwe,bismark,samazi are all identified as C.Gibberosa..
They are different enough from the northern varients to recently warrent a separate species name.
So technically the Zaires and such are no longer Frontosa.
The north Varients would include Burundi, Kavala, Karilani..
Variations: C.Gibberosa --- "blue Zaire" Moba
C. Gibberosa--- " Blue Zaire" Kapampa
C. Gibberosa--- " Blue Zambia" Chaitika
C. Gibberosa--- " Blue Mpimbwe" Mpimbwe
C. Gibberosa--- "Bismark" Samazi"
C. Gibberosa--- "Blue Fluorescent" Nangu
C. Gibberosa --- "Blue" Ikola
C.Frontosa ---- " 7 strips" kigoma
C. sp. ---- North Burundi
C. sp. ---- North Kavalla
C. sp. ---- North Karilani
It is very important to also beware of serface feeding Frontosa's.
They are deep water fish and not used to serface feeding.
This can leed to a problem called float. I find it best to use a quality sinking pellet. I also feed pieces of shrimp, they seem to love.
I cook until good and soft, Romain Lettuce leaves. These will sink after cooking for a few minutes. A very good vegatable suppliment for a change of diet.
Frontosa's enjoy caves large enough to swim in. Mine swim almost all the time in and out of the rock structure.
They do not go to the upper water in the aquarium much at all.
I am no expert on Frontosa's but do hope this will help some.
They are deep water fish and not used to serface feeding.
This can leed to a problem called float. I find it best to use a quality sinking pellet. I also feed pieces of shrimp, they seem to love.
I cook until good and soft, Romain Lettuce leaves. These will sink after cooking for a few minutes. A very good vegatable suppliment for a change of diet.
Frontosa's enjoy caves large enough to swim in. Mine swim almost all the time in and out of the rock structure.
They do not go to the upper water in the aquarium much at all.
I am no expert on Frontosa's but do hope this will help some.
A Frostosa belongs to Cyphotilapia because of the hump on the forehead and the broad- verticle bands on the body. {These bands are not visible in very large males}Frontosa is to include the 7 stripe variety collected in Kigoma and surrounding areas...Other difference between the Frontosa and Gibberosa ..is C. Frontosa Has three scale rows between the upper and lower lateral line verses two rows on the Gibberosa. The C.Gibberosa has a greater number of scales in the longitudinal line..fewer outer teeth on the upper jaw 31-52....verses 39-62..higher body,longer predorsal,longer dorsal,finbase,and longer pectorial fin.
i welcome someone to come up with more info on this subject... Controversary in some respects will continue on since they are still arguing whether to completely separate these two types into Gibberosa and Frontosa .. it is not written in stone yet ..but be aware that it will most likely happen...that there will be two different fish..with varients in both..
i welcome someone to come up with more info on this subject... Controversary in some respects will continue on since they are still arguing whether to completely separate these two types into Gibberosa and Frontosa .. it is not written in stone yet ..but be aware that it will most likely happen...that there will be two different fish..with varients in both..
i was at my lfs and they have fronts-just a few. one had 7 stripes on one side, when he turned i saw he had 6 on the other.. im guessing these are poor stock? or do ppl really keep fronts like that?
i think it happens quite often.... i had one like that... the one i lost a long time ago.. but it was gorgeous..navygirl76;2061523; said:
I hear this happens with Burundi at times. Throw back to maybe old days when they had 7(some say) most likely mixed sp. or inbreed many times... The inbreeding of Burundi is pretty common from what I have read!
Six- and seven-banded frontosa are same species
Six- and seven-banded morphs of Cyphotilapia frontosa have been shown to be members of the same species.
New specimens of the six-banded morph of Cyphotilapia frontosa collected from the northern half of Lake Tanganyika, and specimens of the seven-banded morph of C. frontosa collected from Kigoma, Tanzania, have allowed scientists to analyse differences between the two morphs.
Tetsumi Takahashi, Benjamin Ngatunga and Jos Snoeks, who reported their findings in the latest issue of Ichthyological Research, the journal of the Ichthyological Society of Japan, said that the two morphs were conspecific.
The authors said that both morphs could easily be told apart from Cyphotilapia gibberosa - the second Cyphotilapia species described in 2003.
"The six- and seven-banded morphs of C. frontosa could be easily distinguished from C. gibberosa because C. frontosa has fewer scales between the upper and lower lateral lines and a more elongated body", the authors wrote.
"The six-band morph is easily distinguished from the seven-banded morph by its colour pattern and geographical pattern."
Overlap
Although the dorsal-fin base length and the number of dorsal spines was much greater in the six-band morph, the morphs were still considered to be a single species because there was an overlap between the two.
The number of anal-fin spines was invariable, so was not included in statistical analyses. The other 11 meristic characters examined, including scale and tooth counts, differed between morphs but also overlapped.
The study is a follow-up to the Takahashi and Nakaya paper of 2003 which split the Cyphotilapia genus in two, and described Cyphotilapia gibberosa from the southern end of the Lake.
A lack of specimens of the six- and seven-banded morphs in the original study meant that Takahashi and Nakaya were unable to discuss the taxonomic position of the morphs in the same paper.
The seven-banded Cyphotilapia frontosa examined were collected from Kigoma, Tanzania, at a depth of 24-25m, while the six-banded morph came from eight localities including Bujumbura, Luhanga, Pemba, Gitaza, Nyanza lac, Kolobo, Kabimba and Tembwe in the northern half of the Lake.
Cyphotilapia gibberosa occurs only in the southern portion of the Lake, with the specimens examined having been captured in Kasenga, Moliro, Cape Kaku, Mtondwe Island, Kilewa Bay and Myako.
You can view the distribution of C. frontosa and C. gibberosa on Fish Mapper.
For more information see the paper: Takahashi T, Ngatunga B and J Snoeks (2007) - Taxonomic status of the six-band morph of Cyphotilapia frontosa (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, Africa. Ichthyological Research, 2007, 54: 55-60.
Six- and seven-banded morphs of Cyphotilapia frontosa have been shown to be members of the same species.
New specimens of the six-banded morph of Cyphotilapia frontosa collected from the northern half of Lake Tanganyika, and specimens of the seven-banded morph of C. frontosa collected from Kigoma, Tanzania, have allowed scientists to analyse differences between the two morphs.
Tetsumi Takahashi, Benjamin Ngatunga and Jos Snoeks, who reported their findings in the latest issue of Ichthyological Research, the journal of the Ichthyological Society of Japan, said that the two morphs were conspecific.
The authors said that both morphs could easily be told apart from Cyphotilapia gibberosa - the second Cyphotilapia species described in 2003.
"The six- and seven-banded morphs of C. frontosa could be easily distinguished from C. gibberosa because C. frontosa has fewer scales between the upper and lower lateral lines and a more elongated body", the authors wrote.
"The six-band morph is easily distinguished from the seven-banded morph by its colour pattern and geographical pattern."
Overlap
Although the dorsal-fin base length and the number of dorsal spines was much greater in the six-band morph, the morphs were still considered to be a single species because there was an overlap between the two.
The number of anal-fin spines was invariable, so was not included in statistical analyses. The other 11 meristic characters examined, including scale and tooth counts, differed between morphs but also overlapped.
The study is a follow-up to the Takahashi and Nakaya paper of 2003 which split the Cyphotilapia genus in two, and described Cyphotilapia gibberosa from the southern end of the Lake.
A lack of specimens of the six- and seven-banded morphs in the original study meant that Takahashi and Nakaya were unable to discuss the taxonomic position of the morphs in the same paper.
The seven-banded Cyphotilapia frontosa examined were collected from Kigoma, Tanzania, at a depth of 24-25m, while the six-banded morph came from eight localities including Bujumbura, Luhanga, Pemba, Gitaza, Nyanza lac, Kolobo, Kabimba and Tembwe in the northern half of the Lake.
Cyphotilapia gibberosa occurs only in the southern portion of the Lake, with the specimens examined having been captured in Kasenga, Moliro, Cape Kaku, Mtondwe Island, Kilewa Bay and Myako.
You can view the distribution of C. frontosa and C. gibberosa on Fish Mapper.
For more information see the paper: Takahashi T, Ngatunga B and J Snoeks (2007) - Taxonomic status of the six-band morph of Cyphotilapia frontosa (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, Africa. Ichthyological Research, 2007, 54: 55-60.
Yes, but as said earlier when it was posted and has now been removed and reposted... It still has not been changed... Article has been written but as far as I have seen nothing has been changed. If it has please link it for us, that would be greatly appreciated.
