Shuja (fish)
| Shuja | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cichliformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Genus: | Shuja Genner, Ngatunga & Turner, 2022 |
| Species: | S. horei
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| Binomial name | |
| Shuja horei (Günther, 1894)
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| Synonyms | |
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Shuja horei is a species of haplochromine cichlid which is found in East Africa. It is the only member of the monospecific genus Shuja.[2][3]
Description
[edit]Large individuals, which are classified as being greater than 60 millimetres (2.4 in) long, have black spots on their heads. Males, while foraging, show a distinct orange spot that is located on the anal fin to females as a courtship display.[4]
The males attain lengths of 18–20 centimetres (7.1–7.9 in) and the females 12–15 centimetres (4.7–5.9 in).[5]
Distribution
[edit]Shuja horei is found in the basin of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. It is found in Lake Tanganyika itself and in its tributary rivers such as the Ruzizi River and the Nua River, as well as in the outflowing Lukuga River as far as the Kisimba-Kilia rapids.[6]
Habitat and ecology
[edit]Shuja horei is ubiquitous within the Lake Tanganyika basin where it occurs over both rock and sand substrates, but shows a preference for habitats with a soft substrate on which grows a sward of aquatic grasses. This is a species of shallow water species along the lakeshore and in the lower reaches of the tributary rivers. It is omnivorous, but the adults are mainly piscivorous.[1] The females are mouthbrooders, brooding both eggs and fry in their mouth[6] Dominant males have been found to defend a spawning female from other males in the area.[4] The dominant males have a harem of females but other males will sneakily mate with the females when they can.[7]
Threats
[edit]Shuja horei is threatened by increases in water turbidity and siltation in shallows caused by agriculture and forestry in the Lake Tanganyika drainage basin, it is also threatened by over-fishing using beach seine nets.[1]
Name
[edit]The specific name honours the British explorer and missionary Captain Edward Coode Hore (1848-1912), who was the collector of the type.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Mushagalusa, D. (2025). "Shuja horei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2025 e.T60482A47192433. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T60482A47192433.en. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
- ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Shuja". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
- ^ Martin Genner; Ling-Lan Hsu; Rupert A. Collins; Alan M Smith; Andrew D. Saxon; Asilatu Hamisi Shechonge; Benjamin Ngatunga; George F Turner (May 2022). "Revision of the African cichlid fish genus Ctenochromis (Teleostei, Cichliformes), including a description of the new genus Shuja from Lake Tanganyika and the new species Ctenochromis scatebra from northern Tanzania". European Journal of Taxonomy. 819 (1): 23–54. doi:10.5852/ejt.2022.819.1775. hdl:1983/1c1e7b7b-8204-4748-a4c3-bcb6dafe2100 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ a b Ochi, Haruki (26 May 1993). "Mate monopolization by a dominant male in a multi-male social group of a mouthbrooding cichlid, Ctenochromis horei". Japanese Journal of Ichthyology. 40 (2): 209–218.
- ^ "Fish Of The Month - Ctenochromis horei". Perth Cichlid Society. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Shuja horei". FishBase. June 2018 version.
- ^ George Barlow (2008). The Cichlid Fishes: Nature's Grand Experiment In Evolution. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-0-7867-4389-6.
- ^ Scharpf, Christopher; Lazara, Kenneth J. (14 September 2025). "Order CICHLIFORMES: Family CICHLIDAE: Subfamily PSEUDOCRENILABRINAE (p-y)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 8 November 2025.