Comparative Morphology of the Feeding Apparatus in Cichidian Algal Feeders of Lake Tanganyika

Abstract

Feeding apparatus of 11 species of algal feeding cichlid fishes were examined. A set of 14 characters was taken and treated on their state distance for clustering. Asprotilapia type, Petrochromis type, and Simochromis type with three subtypes are recognized. These feeding apparatuses are related to the feeding methods of fishes when they graze on algae from rocks. This grouping is different from Greenwood's (1978) systematic classification based on pharyngeal apophysis on African cichlids.