Lophiobagrus cyclurus (Worthington & Ricardo, 1937)
Image contributors to this species:
Hippocampus Bildarchiv (3) Allan James (1) Reinhold Wawrzynski (4)
ScotCat Sources:
Other Sources:
Relevant Information:	Concealed mostly among rocks during daytime. Nocturnal habits prevail. Oviparous. Feed on chironomid larvae, beetle larvae and small crustaceans with occasional ingestion of vegetable material. Of no food value. Mucus is poisonous to other fishes. It was first collected in Lake Tanganyika by A. Lestrade in 1937 and named by Max Poll in 1947 as Lophiobagrus lestradei, Worthington & Ricardo 1937. This was later found out to be a junior synonym and renamed Lophiobagrus cyclurus by Poll again in 1952. There was also an unidentified collection in 1955 in M'Toto, rocky, Lake Tanganyika which was named Chrysichthys cyclurus but again this was the same fish that was collected by Lestrade in 1937. As the first collection was the correct fish but was named for the wrong species, the authors which the fish were named after, was put into parentheses. Aquarium care: They will certainly eat smaller fish in the aquarium as most Bagrid-type catfish will do. A Lake Tanganyika or Lake Malawi setup being the best bet with either Cichlids from these lakes or with other similar sized alkaline loving species such as the Lake Syno's. Diet: In Lake Tanganyika it feeds on chironomid larvae, beetle larva, and small crustaceans with the occasional vegetable matter mixed in. In the aquarium they will feed on any meaty foods, frozen or freeze-dried.
Common Name:	African bullhead, Tanganyika bullhead
Synonyms:	Chrysichthys cyclurus, Lophiobagrus lestradei
Family:	Claroteidae
Distribution:	Africa: Lake Tanganyika
Size:	10cm. (4ins)
Temp:	23-26°C (73-79°F)
p.H.	7.5-8.0.
Reference:	ScotCat Factsheet no. 72. June 2002. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (10/2009).