Lethrinops sp. Red Cap Itungi
Lethrinops sp. Red Cap has not yet been officially described.
Description
Lethrinops sp. Red Cap can reach a maximum total length of about 17 centimeters. The females remain somewhat smaller at 13 centimeters.
The very beautiful colors that can be seen in the photos only emerge late in this species. If you have youngsters, you have to be patient before you are rewarded with the bright red spot on his head and the subtle color changes of the rest of his body. The males have egg spots all over the anal fin.
Lethrinops coloring in the wild
Lethrinops are inhabitants of the sandy plains in the wild. Here they live in the safety of groups. The predatory fish always try to focus on one prey. Selecting prey in a group that all looks the same is very difficult. Therefore, in the wild, Lethrinops often look dull and similar silver in color. The males only get their brilliant colors during the spawning season.
Lethrinops colouring in the aquarium
In the aquarium, Lethrinops are very gentle fish. They are soon suppressed and then lose their color. If you keep them in an aquarium with other Malawi cichlids, it will quickly become too crowded. To bring out the color of the Lethrinops, it is best to keep them in a species aquarium. One or more males and several females.
They are still Malawi cichlids. The males impress each other to determine their ranking. They normally do not chase each other. They spread their fins wide and with open mouths, they argue a little. They swim in front of or next to each other to determine who is the dominant male.
The colors of the males show best without other fish species around. If you still want to keep other fish species with Lethrinops, try calm Aulonocara or Copadichromis. Even then there is a chance that the Lethrinops will not come to colour.
Diet
Letrinops sp. Red Cap Itungi, like all other Lethrinops, feed by filtering small food particles from the sand.
Origin
This variant comes from the extreme north of Lake Malawi where it mainly occurs in shallow waters above sandy plains.
The Aquarium
Like most Lethrinops, this species cannot withstand overly aggressive or dominant species; an aquarium with lots of sand and open water is where it feels at home. A combination with, for example, Aulonocaras and somewhat quieter Mbunas is very possible.
Video
Author
John de Lange
Freddy van der Wal
Copyright images
Malawi’s Unlimited
J. de Lange
