Julidochromis regani
Julidochromis regani was described in 1942 by Max Poll. The species name regani is a tribute to Charles Tate Regan (1878 – 1943), the British ichthyologist who became director of the Natural History Museum in London.
Description
Of the Julidochromis species, Julidochromis regani is one of the largest together with Julidochromis marlieri. The males can reach a total length of about 12 centimeters. In this species, the female is even larger and can grow to about 14 to 15 centimeters. The color of the fish is very difficult to see the sex. When you turn the fish over, you can see whether you are dealing with a male or a female by looking at the genital papilla.
Because Lake Tanganyika is so vast, a number of local color variations have developed. Some of the local variations come from:
– Burundi: 4 thick black stripes on a cream background.
– Kachese: four or five very thick stripes on a cream background. This fish shows very dark.
– Kerenge: 3 black stripes on a bright yellow background.
– Kigoma: four or five very thick black stripes on a cream background .
– Kipili: 3 thin black stripes on a yellow/cream background.
– Zambia/Sumbu: 4 thick black stripes on a yellow background.
The Kipili variant is the most common in the aquarium world. The mentioned variants are certainly not the only variants but the most well-known.
Character
It is a species that forms a monogamous couple. They stay together for the rest of their lives. They are downright aggressive towards their own kind and only in large aquariums with enough space for each to create their own territory can you keep multiple couples. Even then they will occasionally continue to fight each other to demarcate the boundaries. They leave other fish species completely alone and are therefore easy to combine with other Tanganyika cichlids. The fact that they leave other species completely alone does not mean that they cannot be aggressive. They certainly stand their ground and when defending their territory they certainly do not shy away from a fight.
Biotope
Julidochromis regani occurs over a wide area in Lake Tanganyika. The ground color and stripes differ per catch location. Scientists are not yet sure whether to divide this species into different groups. Given the external differences, it would not surprise me if they were divided.
In the wild, Julidochromis regani occurs above sandy areas interspersed with rock formations. They form a territory around a hollow between some rocks. They live mainly in somewhat shallow water around 10 meters deep. Because they do not live so deep and the water is broken by the rocks, the water is oxygen-rich.
Diet
This rock dweller feeds on what is available on the rocks. These are mainly algae and crustaceans. In the aquarium they are not picky. Both dry food and flakes and cichlid sticks are eaten but they do prefer frozen or live food. So make sure they also get green food!
The Aquarium
This is a Tanganyika cichlid that grows fairly large. Because you often don’t keep them alone, a fairly large aquarium is needed. You need space for the other species but also for the furnishings. For a couple Julidochromis regani in combination with other species, we recommend an aquarium from 150 centimeters.
Set up the aquarium with sand on the bottom. Place enough rocks with holes, cracks and crevices in between. They can set up a territory around such a hole. Make sure that there is some sand between the rocks above which the fish can swim around.
Plants are almost non-existent in the habitat of Julidochromis regani. If you really want plants, you can think of tough plants such as Vallisneria, Anubias or Java fern. In my Tanganyika aquarium, even these plants never did well. The fish pecked at them too much to be able to do well.
Breeding Julidochromis regani
This species forms a pair. It is best to start with 5 or 6 young fish. From this a pair will be formed automatically. As soon as a pair has formed, the other members of the same species are chased away. It is then important to catch them quickly. The pair will continue to chase them away until death follows. The pair looks for a cavity between the stones to breed. Incidentally, they are very secretive breeders. You will often not even notice that they have a nest.
In the hollow between the rocks, they lay up to 200 eggs. At first the young can be fed with freshly hatched artemia and dust food. Later also with finely ground flakes and other small frozen or live food.
It is not uncommon for the parents to start a new nest while the previous young are still present. Once the young become too large for the parents’ liking, they are chased away.
Video
Author
John de Lange
Copyright images
John de Lange
Resources
Tanganyika Cichliden in hun Natuurlijk omgeving, Ad Konings
Cichlidae nouveaux du lac Tanganika appartenant aux collections du Musée du Congo”. Revue de Zoologie et Botanique Africaines, Max Poll
Fishbase.org
Tanganyika.nl
NVCweb.nl
Tanganyikacichlide.nl
