Tristramella simonis

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Tristramella simonis
Tristramella simonis B.jpg
In the Tisch Family Zoo, Israel
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Tristramella
Species:
T. simonis
Binomial name
Tristramella simonis
(Günther, 1864)
Synonyms
  • Chromis simonisGünther, 1864
  • Tilapia simonis(Günther, 1864)
  • Tilapia magdalenae(Lortet, 1883)
  • Tristramella magdalenae(Lortet, 1883)
  • Tristramella intermedia Steinitz & Ben-Tuvia, 1959

Tristramella simonis, the short jaw tristramella, is a vulnerable species of cichlid fish from the Jordan River system, including Lake Tiberias (Kinneret), in Israel and Syria, with introduced populations in the Nahr al-Kabir and Orontes basins in Syria. [1] [2] It prefers waters with little or no movement. [2] Along with other tilapias, T. simonis is commonly caught as a food fish in parts of its range and it is commercially important in Lake Tiberias. [1] [3]

Contents

Conservation status and taxonomy

It is the only member of the genus Tristramella that remains extant, [2] but it is vulnerable according to the IUCN. [1] Primary threats are water extraction and climate change reducing the rain in its range. [1] Other potential threats are uncontrolled fishing, [1] and outbreaks of a viral disease that causes blindness in tilapia, including T. simonis. [3] The species survives in less than ten locations. The primary location is Lake Tiberias where it remained common, the population was not threatened and fisheries are well-controlled (unlike other parts of its range). [1] However, in a review of catches in Lake Tiberias, a strong and serious decline was observed in 2006–2016 compared to 1996–2005, which was even more extreme if compared to 1986–1995. If looking at each year in 2000–2015, there was a sudden strong decline to very low levels in 2005–2006, with a slight rebound in 2010, then followed by very low levels again. It likely has the potential to rebound, as small juveniles are still common. [4]

Two northern populations, Tristramella intermedia from Lake Hula and magdelainea from the vicinity of Damascus, are extinct, [5] [6] [7] but their taxonomic status is uncertain. [2] FishBase and Catalog of Fishes consider both intermidia and magdelainea as synonyms of T. simonis. [8] [9] They are still recognized as separate species by the IUCN, which however has not reviewed their status since 2006. [5] [6]

The deliberate draining of Lake Hula in the 1950s led to the extinction of intermidia, along with the cyprinid fish Mirogrex hulensis .

In contrast to the conservation status in much of its native range, a survey in Syria in 2008 found that T. simonis had been introduced to the Nahr al-Kabir and Orontes basins. It was abundant at some of these locations, even thriving in man-made habitats like reservoirs. [2]

Appearance and behavior

Illustration of the extinct T. sacra, which has a longer head and a more protruding lower jaw than T. simonis Tristramella sacra.jpg
Illustration of the extinct T. sacra , which has a longer head and a more protruding lower jaw than T. simonis

This species can reach a total length of 25.8 cm (10.2 in), [12] but adults typically are 18–21 cm (7–8.5 in). [10] It resembles a typical tilapia, usually being overall olive–brownish to golden–brownish, sometimes with a banded pattern. Compared to the extinct T. sacra , T. simonis has a proportionally shorter head and its lower jaw at most protrudes slightly past the upper jaw. [10] [11] They also differ in their teeth (number and shape) and certain meristics. [11] [12] If recognized as valid, the extinct intermidia and magdelainea only differ slightly in proportions and other details compared to T. simonis. [10] [11]

T. simonis mostly feeds on phytoplankton and macrophytes, but also takes zooplankton and small benthic invertebrates. [10] [13] In Lake Tiberias, adults are found in open-water schools for much of the year, while the young live in sheltered habitats near the shore. [3] The species can reach maturity when 16 cm (6.5 in) long, [10] and breeding is from March to August, with a female being able to spawn two or three times in a season. [13] It is a mouthbrooder, but some sources indicate this only is done by the female, [1] [10] while others indicate it is done by both parents. [13] There are up to 250 relatively large eggs, [10] which are laid on the open bottom in a "nest" in water less than 3 m (10 ft) deep. [4] Shortly after they are picked up in the parent's mouth. The juveniles stay in the mouth after they hatch from the eggs, only leaving their parent when they reach about 1.4 cm (0.55 in). [10]

Although hybrids are well-known among tilapias, hybrids between Tristramella and other tilapias are unknown. Despite both living in Lake Tiberias and them being close relatives, hybridization between T. simonis and the now-extinct T. sacra also is not known to have occurred. [12] A species of fish louse, Argulus tristramellae, apparently is host specific, only parasitizing T. simonis (even when still common, T. sacra was not attacked by this fish louse). [12]

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<i>Alcolapia alcalica</i> Species of fish

Alcolapia alcalica, the common natron tilapia or soda cichlid, is an endangered species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to the hypersaline, warm Lake Natron in Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region, its drainage and the Shombole Swamps in Kenya and Tanzania. This species typically has an essentially terminal (straight) mouth, but a morph with an upturned mouth is found locally in eastern Lake Natron, where it co-occurs with the normal morph. A. latilabris and A. ndalalani, the two other species in Lake Natron, both have a clearly downturned mouth. Territorial males of A. alcalica have extensive blue-white spotting, and their underparts and throat can be yellow or white. Females and non-territorial males are overall sandy in colour. A. alcalica reaches up to 11.6 cm (4.6 in) in total length.

Astatotilapia flaviijosephi, the Jordan mouthbrooder, is a vulnerable species of freshwater fish in the family Cichlidae (cichlids). It is found in the central Jordan River system, including Lake Tiberias (Kinneret), in Israel, Jordan and Syria, making it the only haplochromine cichlid to naturally range outside of Africa. This species is too small to be of significant importance to fisheries, unlike the only other cichlids native to the Levant, the economically important tilapias.

Haplochromis piceatus is a species of cichlid fish endemic to Lake Victoria in East Africa. Although listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, since 2005, surveys have failed to find them in their home lake and they are possibly extinct in the wild. Captive "safety populations" are maintained at several public aquariums.

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<i>Oreochromis esculentus</i> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Chala tilapia</span> Species of fish

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<i>Oreochromis jipe</i> Species of fish

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<i>Tristramella</i> Genus of fishes

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<i>Tristramella sacra</i> Species of fish

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Goren, M. (2014). "Tristramella simonis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2014: e.T61362A19010371. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T61362A19010371.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Borkenhagen, K.; J. Freyhof (2009). "New records of the Levantine endemic cichlid Tristramella simonis from Syria". Cybium. 33 (4): 335–336.
  3. 1 2 3 Gophen, M. (2018). Ecological Research in the Lake Kinneret and Hula Valley (Israel) Ecosystems. pp. 10–11, 234, 247–248.
  4. 1 2 Gophen, S. (2017), Ecological Dynamics in the Kinneret Littoral Ecosystem
  5. 1 2 Goren, M. (2006). "Tristramella intermedia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2006: e.T60792A12399367. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T60792A12399367.en .
  6. 1 2 Goren, M. (2006). "Tristramella magdelainae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2006: e.T61365A12468486. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T61365A12468486.en .
  7. ↑ Goren, M. (2006). "Tristramella intermedia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2006: e.T60792A12399367. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T60792A12399367.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Tristramella". FishBase . November 2019 version.
  9. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Tristramella". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Serruya, C., ed. (1978). Lake Kinneret. Dr. W. Junk bv Publishers, The Hague–Boston–London. pp. 420–424. ISBN   978-94-009-9954-1.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Steinitz, H.; A. Ben-Tuvia (1960). "The Cichlid fishes of the genus Tristramella Trewavas". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 13. 27 (3): 161–175. doi:10.1080/00222936008650912.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Kornfield, I.L.; U. Ritte; C. Richler; J. Wahrman (1979). "Biochemical and Cytological Differentiation Among Cichlid Fishes of the Sea of Galilee". Evolution. 33 (1): 1–14. doi:10.2307/2407360. JSTOR   2407360.
  13. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Tristramella simonis". FishBase . November 2019 version.
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