#transcriptoids

[aquariuminfobureau]

As a child, I grew up encouraged yo take an interest in aquariums, and particularly in tropical fishes. But the vibrant tropical marines, I was told - the fishes from the coral reef - were simply too 'hard' or 'impossible', especially for a child. When I first took a serious interest in cichlids from the Great Lakes in East Africa, I was again told that they were unsuitable for me; that they needed 'special' water. Such advice surely daunts many fishkeepers from trying fish from Lakes Malawi or Tanganyika, though many people have local water supplies that are perfectly suited for their needs - as in a hard and alkaline freshwater. As is preferred, incidentally, by the regular platies and the like; their needs in this regard do not stand apart from those of 'normal' tropical fishes, rather, they are at one end of a pH spectrum.

The native animals in the ecosystems of these ancient lakes - including the snails, crabs, and fishes - have evolved in ways that parallel marine fauna from shallow seas, although their ancestors may in fact be quite different, despite appearances - the phenomenon called convergent evolution. Although cichlids actually are a part of the 'perchlike' radiation, together with the saltwater damselfishes, fairy basslets, gobies, and wrasses, they are a freshwater clade at heart. Even though there are no corals in Lake Tanganyika - very few cnidarians are freshwater - the cichlid colonists there discovered a world of rocky reefs, and thus evolved similar forms and habits, to those of their saltwater kin, however distant is the family relationship.

The cichlids we call julies (Julidochromis sp.) are an iconic component of Tanganyikan fish communities. As a child, I was struck by their colors, and by how they and their relatives, resemble some inshore marine fishes. Specifically, I thought they resembled many wrasses, and years later I learned that the namesake of the julies is in fact a wrasse. As is often the case, English speaking ichthyologists used familiar species from home, as a reference when describing the exotic. It isn't too far off to understand 'Julidochromis', as meaning 'wrasse cichlid'.

The golden or ornate julie, or J. ornatus, is a pretty little cichlid of about 7 and a 1/2 centimeters, or 3 inches long. Although the concept of a 'dwarf cichlid' is employed for other African genera, and for South American counterparts, it isn't usually used for Rift Lake cichlids. Many of them do, however, qualify, because it is purely a size based category, and not a phylogenetic one. The small size of many Rift Lake cichlids, means they are more 'do-able' than many people imagine, although some thought must go into choosing suitable tankmates, and into the design of the aquascape, for reasons of territoriality.

Within Julidochromis sp. a number of morphs exist, and it isn't agreed upon how to classify all of them. It is hard to demarcate taxa, due to complexities of natural selection and gene flow. The archetypal J. ornatus was described from the Mpulungu area and Mbity Rocks; but more broadly the fellow members of the 'ornatus group' are present elsewhere in the lake. These local morphs can be described as either 'ornatoid' or 'transcriptoid', per their similarities to the holotypes (formally described archetypes) of J. ornatus, or the darker 'J. transcriptus'.

Typically cichlid fanciers conserve the gene pools of different, local morphs, by maintaining them as pure. This although such purities don't really exist in Lake Tanganyika, with evident crosses even between related genera. Not surprisingly it is hard to demarcate or define a species, among the wrasse cichlids. All of the 'ornatus group' live in shallow, rocky habitats, where they breed and take cover in the crevices - genuine reef dwellers. Based upon the water parameters recorded at Mpulungu, the pH of their aquarium water ought to be high, 8.5 to 9, and the temperature ought to be 24 to 27 degrees centigrade. Needless to say these cichlids require a decent aquascape built of inert to calcareous rocks.

In the food web of their home, julies are micro carnivores that that feed on the tiny arthropods, that they find on the surfaces of rocks. For this purpose they have u usually fleshy lips by fish standards. In the aquarium they accept dry and defrosted food of appropriate composition Their nature is, of course, somewhat territorial; but they can share an aquarium with other fish, including other cichlids, assuming the spatial needs of all the cohabitants can be accommodated. In the aquarium it is customary to keep this species in pairs, on the grounds that they are territorial.

However the julies are truly social animals, to a degree aquarists rarely appreciate. They are not a gregarious, schooling species, but they live in social groups with identifiable kinship structures. Unlike many other Tanganyikan cichlids, they are not mouthbrooders, and they have retained the substrate spawning habits of their ancestors, using rock crevices for this purpose. Groups of J. ornatus may consist of monogamous breeding couples, with or without associated helpers; but also small numbers of small harems, accompanied by five or six helpers. Thus they are crudely eusocial fishes, like humans and meerkats on land. Though many cichlids consume the fry of other fishes, Julidochromis is not known to do so, and it is very unlikely, considering their benthivorous niche and facial anatomy. They will of course defend their own sites, from perceived threats.