Kevin Stevens
@neohibolites
Cichlid enthusiast and paleontologist.
No cichlid this time but an Early Jurassic extinct stem-gar we described in 2024: Mengius acutidens. Not a really thought out reconstruction… This was a close relative of the well known Lepidotes. 🐟 #SundayFishSketch #SciArt
Haplochromis sp. “Ruby Green”. My dominant male of this species. Originally from Lake Kyoga, Uganda, they are close relatives of the Lake Victoria cichlids. 🐟 #fishkeeping #photography
You want to make sure you look extra stunning when defending a territory. 🐟 #fishkeeping
A single ruby green cichlid juvenile has miraculously survived inside the aquarium with all the adult fish. Seems to be doing well and is now too large to be eaten so I guess I’ll just let him grow up inside (catching them is impossible anyway). 🐟 #fishkeeping
This #SundayFishSketch is Anomalochromis thomasi, the African butterfly cichlid. Native to western Africa, this was the first cichlid I kept. 🐟 #SciArt
This #SundayFishSketch is the Central American cichlid Neetroplus nematopus. This fish is in breeding dress for which they basically “reverse” their coloration and become nearly completely black, except for a normally black band, which turns white. 🐟 #SciArt
The emperor cichlid (Boulangerochromis microlepis) from Lake Tanganyika is, with a length of up to 70 cm, one of the largest of all cichlids and one of the top predators of the lake. 🐟 #SundayFishSketch #sciart
The extreme heatwave made me think of Danakilia sp. ‘shukoray’ for today’s #SundayFishSketch. This cichlid manages to survive in the Danakil Depression, one of the hottest places on Earth. Curiously their closest relatives seem to be the Iranian cichlids (Iranocichla). 🐟
The heat wave in Europe means that aquarium temperatures have to be watched closely. Lake Victoria surface water is usually quite stable around 25-26 °C, the cichlids shouldn’t endure >30 °C for long due to the temperature itself and the water’s reduced oxygen capacity. 🐟 #fishkeeping
My largest Lake Bermin cichlid (Coptodon bythobates). Lake Bermin in Cameroon has a diameter of only 700 m, but hosts a species flock of at least nine endemic cichlid species. 🐟🧪 #photography #fishkeeping
The canara pearl spot (Etroplus canarensis) is an endangered cichlid endemic to the Western Ghats of South India. It’s a member of the Etroplinae, which are the sister group to all other cichlids. 🐟 #SundayFishSketch
Always funny to see how much their eyes are bulging outwards. 🐟 #photography #fishkeeping
The German Cichlid Association is again awarding its grant of up to 2500€ for cichlid research or conservation projects. Available to anyone internationally (no need for a membership). 🐟🧪
Of course he decides to display his best colors before I have cleaned the glass… 🐟 #fishkeeping #photography
“Haplochromis” nubilus, one of the few Lake Victoria cichlids that also occurs outside the lake and seems to fall outside the LV radiation proper. Males are black with red borders on their unpaired fins. 🐟 #SundayFishSketch
Reading up on fish/cephalopod co-evolution, this section from the otherwise great review of the topic by O’Dor and Webber (1986) is certainly not correct. Chromatophores of some fishes can change instantly and there is a dual nervous/hormonal control.
Realized today that the dominant “Ruby Green” male is getting an additional sixth eggspot even though I have already kept him now for over two years. 🐟 #fishkeeping #photography
The critically endangered Malagasy Mangarahara cichlid (Ptychochromis insolitus) turns pearly white during breeding. This species was once believed to be extinct in the wild but due to conservation efforts a healthy captive population exists today. Filmed at Zoo Münster. 🐟 #conservation
Baby Coptodon bythobates with ‘Tilapia’ spot, from Cameroonian Lake Bermin. 🐟 #photography
Our garden has a large population of crab spiders, which I take as a sign that we have a healthy population of pollinators.
Lake Victoria cichlid trying to impress a female. #photography #fishkeeping 🐟