African Jewelfish, Diet, Reproduction, pH Requirements

African Jewelfish, Diet, Reproduction, Water pH Requirements

African jewelfish Habitat and Ranges 

African jewelfish from the Nile River in the north, Niger River to the Southwest and the Congo River to the west although the 3 rivers that do not intersect, drain, or flood into one another. The burning question becomes; how did African jewelfish become so widely disbursed with virtually no change in reproduction, spawning or behavioral patterns from Africa, South America, Iran, North America.

African jewelfish and Continent of Gondwana

Gondwana included most of the landmasses in today's Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar and the Australian continent, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, which have now moved entirely into the Northern Hemisphere. The great breakup in Gondwana began to break apart 184 million years ago and was completed by 110 million years.

Continent of Gondwanaland before the Big Breakup  

The adjective --Gondwanan is in common use biogeography when referring to patterns of distribution of living organisms, typically when the organisms are restricted to two or more of the now-discontinuous regions that were once part of Gondwana, including the Antarctic flora. For example, the Proteaceae, a family of plants known only from southern South America, South Africa and Australia, are considered to have and " The African jewelfish, has the Gondwanan distribution"; this pattern is often considered to indicate an archaic or relict, lineage.

Continents of Gondwanaland after the Big Breakup and the African jewelfish

So why isn’t the African jewelfish all over Africa?

Eonile is the explanation the present Nile is at least the fifth river that has flowed north from the Ethiopian Highlands. Satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile. An Eonile canyon, now filled by surface drift, represents an ancestral Nile called the Eonile that flowed during the later Miocene (23–5.3 million years before present). The Eonile transported clastic sediments to the Mediterranean; several natural gas fields have been discovered within these sediments.

Eonile Canyon 8200 feet beneath Cairo

During the late-Miocene Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea was a closed basin and evaporated to the point of being empty or nearly so, the Nile cut its course down to the new base level until it was several hundred feet below world ocean level at Aswan and 8,000 feet (2,400 m) below Cairo. This created a very long and deep canyon which was filled with sediment when the Mediterranean was recreated. At some point the sediments raised the riverbed sufficiently for the river to overflow westward into a depression to create Lake Moeris.

Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Nile until the Virunga Volcanoes blocked its course in Rwanda. The Nile was much longer at that time, with its furthest headwaters in northern Zambia.

 

The African jewelfish, also known as Jewel Cichlid 

JewlFish, is from the family cichlidae, and can grow up to 6 inches long however they usually do not exceed 5 and half inches in most home aquariums and keep the pH-value in the 6.5-7.5 range and the water temperature between 23-27 degrees C (74-80 degrees F) and max temperature (82 degree F-if breeding). 

Origin African jewelfish is in the Nile River, Niger River and Congo River

There are many different species of the jewelfish all of the different species from the turquoise jewelfish cichlid, red jewelfish, blue, green or stripped jewelle,  behave the same way and they all have the same proclivities regarding behavior. The African jewelfish is not a community fish and you cannot have any other fish in a tank with them. Because of their beauty many people desire them as pets unfortunately this fish is omnivore with carnivorous tendencies, the jewelfish is predatory, extremely aggressive, territorial, and will always kill other fish. So if you want African jewelfish than keep only the same species in their aquarium.  

African jewelfish Habitat

The African jewelfish's origin is in Africa, hence its name. They are found in high numbers in the rivers of West Africa, but have also spread to areas of the Middle East, such as Iran, and also to parts of South America. Just recently, they have been discovered in areas of North America around the Gulf Coast, in states such as Florida and Alabama.

 

African jewelfish was artificially introduced in the hot springs of Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Naturally they can be found in creeks, streams, lakes, and rivers. Because African jewelfish is from Africa, they needs a soft and a bit more acidic water in order to stay alive in captivity.

African jewelfish lives in water that is partly salt water and partly fresh water and is in a tropical location because it prefers a water temperature of 75 to 85 F. When in captivity, the African jewelfish should be kept only with members of the same species. Aquarium size should be no less than 55 gallon 208.1976479 liters or 209 liter. Minim 55 gallon fish tank; the outside dimensions 48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 21 (78 pounds when aquarium is empty)-(aquarium weight when filled 625 pounds) construction would be tempered glass.

African jewelfish Reproduction, Fry

When the African jewelfish is ready to breed, females will turn a deep red color to let the male know and swim very close to the male. The male and female will bond or jaw lock and the male will release sperm on the eggs once the female deposits her eggs lay the eggs on a you must provide flat surface for spawaning purposes. The female will protect her eggs and will kill anything that comes in close proximity and they sometimes eat their own fry. In a couple of days the eggs will hatch and the female will still protect them. The female can reproduce every three weeks. Jewel fish are 3 to 4 to 10 cm long.

 

African jewelfish Diet

The African Jewelfish are omnivorous. They feed on insects, crustaceans, and Caridina. Caridina are associated with shrimps and prawns. African Jewelfish can also eat some plants, such as algae and other weeds, as well as debris. When in captivity, African jewelfish can live by you feeding them varied diet of frozen or live food, flakes and pellets as they usually accept mostly all forms of fish food. They also eat algae wafers and shrimp pellets. They can be easily compared to the bottom feeding fish in an aquarium, as they like to eat the algae and other debris that forms in the fish tank. African jewelfish are also known to eat their own young practicing filial cannibalism.

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Maryana Pinchuk

African jewelfish

Scientific classification

Kingdom:   Animalia

Phylum:      Chordata

Class:         Actinopterygii

Order:        Perciformes

Family:       Cichlidae

Subfamily: Pseudocrenilabrinae

Tribe:         Hemichromini

Genus:        Hemichromis

Species:      H. bimaculatus

Binomial name: Hemichromis bimaculatus

Described: Gill, 1862

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hemichromis bimaculatus

ITIS.gov  Hemichromis bimaculatus

http://www.aquariumlife.net/profiles/african-cichlids/blue-jewel/100150.asp Jewel Cichlid

Further Reading

Robins, Richard C., Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, et al. (1980). A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada, Fourth Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, no. 12. American Fisheries Society Bethesda, Maryland.

Riehl, R., and H. A. Baensch. (1989). Aquarium Atlas. Hans A. Baensch. Melle, Germany. ISBN 3-88244-050-3.

    http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/Breed_Profiles.aspx?aid=6263&cid=3680&search=African jewelfish

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichlid,%20Jewel.htmJewel-Fish