Abstract
The biology of female Epiplatys bifasciatus (Steindachner, 1881) from the ‘Sudd’ region of southern Sudan was investigated. The population was dominated by females whose growth in body dimensions relative to total length was found to be linear. The reproductive system differs from that of oviparous teleosts in having a portion of the ovary (anterior) modified for carrying the developing brood. Gradual development of oocytes towards the ‘nursing’ portion of the ovary, and low absolute fecundity of the brood, suggests a rather long breeding season (June to September).
A large variety of food organisms belonging to three main groups, viz. insects, crustaceans and arachnids, were taken by Epiplatys collected from the littoral zones of two rivers, the Bahr El Ghazal and the White Nile. Little variation occurred in the food of these two populations. Chironomid larvae showed the highest occurrence frequency in the fish food for both localities, and insects in general constituted over 80% of all organisms eaten.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baake, K., 1930. Pflege und Zucht des Panchax chaperi (Sauvage). Aquar.-Terrarienk. 41: 19–21.
Bagenal, T. B., 1974. A buoyant net designed to catch freshwater fish larvae quantitatively. Freshwat. Biol. 4: 107–109.
Bech, R., 1971. The biotope of Aphyosemion bualarum and Epiplatys annulatus. Monatsschr. Ornithol. Vivarienk. Ausg. B. Aquarien Terrarien 18: 202–203.
Beyer, L., 1931. Die Familie Cyprinodontidae. I. Blatt. Aquar.-Terrarienk. 42: 33–38, 69–74, 103–106.
Boulenger, G. A., 1907. Catalogue of the Freshwater Fishes of Africa, vols I–IV. Wheldon & Wesley and Verlag J. Cramer, Germany.
Breder, C. M. Jr. & Rosen, D. E., 1966. Modes of Reproduction in Fishes. Natural History Press, Garden City, N.Y. 941 pp.
Corbet, S. A., Green, J., Griffith, J. & Betney, E., 1973. Ecological studies on crater lakes in Western Cameroon, Lakes Katto and Mboandong. J. Zool. Lond. 170: 309–324.
Culling, C. E. A., 1957. Handbook of Histopathological Techniques. Butterworth, London. 356 pp.
Goldstein, R. J., 1969. Redescription of Epiplatys chevalieri. J. Am. Killifish Assoc. 6: 1–4.
Guma'a, S. A., 1978. The food and feeding habits of young perch, Perca fluviatilis, in Windermere. Freshwat. Biol. 8: 177–187.
Innes, W. T., 1935. Exotic Aquarium Fishes, 1st ed. Innes Publ. Co., Philadelphia, 463 pp.
Jahns, W., 1968. Do we have true Epiplatys chaperi? Monatsschr. Ornithol. Vivarienk. Ausg. B. Aquarien Terrarien. 15: 171.
Kammerzell, F., 1926. Haplochilus senegalensis, seine Pflege und Zucht. Aquar.-Terrarienk. 37: 218–220.
Krumholz, L. A., 1948. Reproduction in the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis affinis (Baird and Girard), and its use in mosquito control. Ecol. Monogr. 18: 1–43.
Lambert, J., 1969. Fish from the Ivindo River: V. Rivulinae (continued) and Procatopodinae. Biol. Gabonica. 5: 223–231.
Loiselle, P. V., 1969. The biology of Epiplatys bifasciatus (Steindachner, 1881) in Southern Togo. J. Am. Killifish Assoc. 6: 40–45.
Loiselle, P. V., 1970. The biology of Epiplatys sexfasciatus (Gill, 1862) in southern Dahomey and the Togo hills. J. Am. Killifish Assoc. 7: 29–53.
Mayer, F., 1954. xEpiplatys senegalensis (Steindachner). The Aquarium, Philadelphia 23: 148–149.
Mitch, H., 1937. Panchax macrostigma. Blatt. Aquar.-Terrarienk. 48: 142–143.
Muller, H., 1926. Einiges über die Zucht des Haplochilus chaperi. Blatt. Aquar.-Terrarienk. 37: 161–162.
Muller, H., 1926. Something about the breeding of the Haplochilus chaperi. Aquatic Life, Baltimore, 10: 33–34.
Neumann, W., 1969. Taxonomy of oviparous toothed Cyprinidae. Monatsschr. Ornithol. Vivarienk. Ausg. B. Aquarien Terrarien. 16: 388–389.
Neumann, E., 1971. The biotope of the African cyprinodontids, Aphyosemion, Rolloffia, Epiplatys and Aplocheilichthys. Monatsschr. Ornithol. Vivarienk. Ausg. B. Aquarien Terrarien. 18: 203.
Rasmussen, E., 1948. Spawning and early development of Epiplatys chaperi. Aquarium J. San Francisco 19: 23–25.
Ricker, W. E. (Ed.) 1971. Methods of Assessment of Fish Production in Freshwaters. IBP Handbook No. 3, Blackwell, Oxford. 365 pp.
Roloff, E., 1970. Little fish from Africa; from catching them to breeding them in the aquarium. Aquarien Mag. 4: 365–367.
Sandon, H., 1950. An Illustrated Guidebook to the Freshwater Fishes of the Sudan. Sudan Notes and Records. 70 pp.
Scheel, J. J., 1968. Zoogeography and relationships of the Rivulinae of the African Atlantic coast. Monatsschr. Ornithol. Vivarienk. Ausg. B. Aquarien Terrarien. 15: 52–53.
Schwartz, E., 1971. The localisation of ripple sources by surface feeding fishes. Z. Vgl. Physiol. 74: 64–80.
Seidel, G., 1969. Epiplatys annulatus breeding problems. Monatsschr. Ornithol. Vivarienk. Ausg. B. Aquarien. Terrarien. 16: 174.
Seidel, G., 1971. Do we still have pure strains of Epiplatys fasciolatus from Liberia and Sierra Leone, West Africa? Monatsschr. Ornithol. Vivarienk. Ausg. B. Aquarien Terrarien. 18: 202.
Shirota, A., 1970. Studies on the mouth size of fish larvae. Bull. jap. Soc. sci. Fish. 36: 353–368.
Sterba, B., 1962. Freshwater Fishes of the World. Vista Books, London. 877 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guma'a, S.A. On the biology of female Epiplatys bifasciatus (Cyprinodontidae) from southern Sudan. Hydrobiologia 89, 285–300 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005716
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005716