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The Aquarium Husbandry of
Tilapia snyderae, a Dwarf
Cichlid
from Lake Bermin, Cameroon
by Paul V. Loiselle
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| A sexually quiescent dark phase male of the green/red
morph of Tilapia snyderae. Few West African cichlids pack so much
color into such a small package. |
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| A ripe female red/green morph T. snyderae.
A few days after this photo was taken, this 1.6 cm (¾ in) SL female
produced a clutch of 30 eggs! |
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| A sexually quiescent dark phase male of the brown
morph of T. snyderae. This is the least attractive color form of
this polymorphic dwarf species. |
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| A parental dark phase female brown morph T. snyderae
with a few of her fry. All individuals of this species do not express the
dark lateral bars typical of parental tilapias as clearly as she does. |
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| The coloration of this parental male black/red T.
snyderae is reminiscent of that of Tilapia bythobates, a significantly
larger Lake Bermin species that typically inhabits much deeper water. |
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| A parental dark phase female red/green morph T.
snyderae. Compare the intensity of her coloration with that of the
specimen in the next illustration. The genetic basis of this species’ remarkable
color polymorphism remains to be determined. |
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| A parental pale phase female red/green morph T.
snyderae. Pale phase specimens of Lake Bermin’s tilapias have a distinctly
bleached-out appearance. Most aquarists find them less attractive than
their dark phase counterparts. |
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| Newly free-swimming T. snyderae fry. The small
clutches of this species relieve the breeder of the onus of disposing of
hundreds of fry, a problem that frequently arises following the successful
spawning of other tilapia species! |
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