Amphilophus viridis

Amphilophus viridis is found in Lake Xiloa in Nicaragua. This species is very similar to Amphilophus amarillo, which also occurs in this lake.

Amphilophus viridis

Amphilophus is Greek for amphi = on both sides, lophus = crest, referring to the upper and lower lip of the type species Amphilophus labiatus. Viridis is Latin for green, a reference to the prominent green ground coloration in this cichlid.

This species was described in 2013 by Rechnagel, Kusche, Elmer & Meyer.

Description

Amhilophus viridis is provisionally the last described Midas cichlid from the Nicaraguan crater lakes. With an emphasis on “preliminary” because it is expected that further research will define more species in the future. Amphilophus viridis is very similar to Amphilophus amarillo (also from Lake Xiloa), to which it is closely related. They not only share origins, but also have exactly the same build and markings. It is therefore not surprising that hobbyists cannot tell these two apart. In addition, Amphilophus viridis was traded as Amphilophus amarillo until 2007. Even if the animals had been recognized as “abnormal,” there would have been no other option but to label them Amphilophus amarillo. The purity of aquarium populations is therefore no longer guaranteed.

But what the people fail to do, the fish do effortlessly. They do recognize each other as two separate species. This teaches us their DNA. In the group Amphilophus amarillo and Amphilophus viridis, two distinct genetic clusters have clearly separated. However, this is only possible when the animals mate predominantly assorted, that is, “with their own kind”. For this, the animals must be able to distinguish each other as “different” and they do not seem to have any problem with that. Hybrids do occur, but hybridisation occurs between almost all types of Midasses and this is mainly due to the age of the new varieties. The lakes in which these fish occur are still young and so the relationships are great. Amphilophus viridis and Amphilophus amarillo are genetically much closer to each other than to the other two Lake Midasses, Amphilophus sagittae and Amphilophus xiloaensis.

More closely, there are still a few differences to observe for the trained human eye. The most important of these is the colour. The ground colour of Amphilophus amarillo is yellow. That of Amphilophus viridis tends, as the name implies, more towards “green”. In addition, the throat of Amphilophus amarillo turns orange in the mating season and that of Amphilophus viridis does not. Differences can also be observed in foraging behaviour. Amphilophus amarillo mainly feeds on snails. Its throat teeth are specially adapted for this and have millstone-shaped (molariform) teeth to crack the snail shells. Amphilophus viridis, on the other hand, has a more vegetarian lifestyle, its food consists mainly of algae and plants and this has also resulted in adapted teeth. Their throat jaws have a much finer structure (papilliform), intended to break through cell walls of plants or algae.

There is only one photo of this fish worldwide (at the time of writing). Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to post it, so we’ll have to settle for the link to the first description.

Origin

Nicaragua.

Distribution

The crater Lake Xiloa.

Behavior

Unknown.

Diet

Omnivorous with a natural preference for plant material (algae and plant parts).

Breeding

Unknown, but most likely the same as Amphilophus amarillo.

The Aquarium

There are no aquarium experiences with this fish yet. Although..,

Video

Author

Rene Beerlink – NVC

Copyright drawing

Rene Beerlink – NVC

Reference

Recknagel H. et al. 2013. Two new endemic species in the Midas cichlid species complex from Nicaraguan crater lakes: Amphilophus tolteca and Amphilophus viridis.

Literature

Recknagel H. et al. 2013. Two new endemic species in the Midas cichlid species complex from Nicaraguan crater lakes: Amphilophus tolteca and Amphilophus viridis.

Additional information

Family

Genus

Species

viridis

First described by

Axel Meyer, Hans Recknagel, Henrik Kusche, Kathryn R. Elmer

Diet

Origin

Country

ecosystem

Minimum length

18

Length maximum

21

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