Photo: Nicolas COUTHOUIS, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Blood-red jewel cichlid
Hemichromis lifalili
10 cm
Adult size
80 L
Minimum volume
2
Minimum group
8 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Hemichromis
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- pair
In the wild
Overview
This red jewel cichlid, now placed in the genus Rubricatochromis, is often confused with Hemichromis bimaculatus: H. lifalili has only two black spots on its flanks, against three in H. bimaculatus, which has an extra one on the caudal peduncle.
- Scientific name
- Rubricatochromis lifalili (Loiselle, 1979)Current valid name; in the hobby: Hemichromis lifalili
- Classification
- Cichliformes › Cichlidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Congo basin (except Katanga and Kasai): Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in calm or slow creeks and tributaries that are nevertheless rich in oxygen, mostly in forest but also in savannah with gallery forests. It is absent from rapids and marshes. It spawns on an open surface and forms well-established pairs.
Behaviour
Territorial, it becomes extremely aggressive when breeding but remains fairly calm the rest of the time. It lives with large Alestidae (Congo tetras), Synodontis and Loricariidae. Keep it in a pair: it is better to let a pair form within a group of juveniles, as two fish bought together often end with the death of the weaker one. Mostly carnivorous: live prey, dry food and a little plant matter.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth