Preying on cyprinid snout warts (pearl organs) as a novel and peculiar habit in the Lake Malawi cichlid Docimodus evelynae.

ABSTRACT: Cichlid fishes in the African Great Lakes have undergone explosive speciation, acquiring markedly varying ecologies and diets. There are multiple lineages of scale-eating cichlids, and their natural history and evolutionary ecology is only partially understood. We examined the feeding habit of Docimodus evelynae, a known scale eater, in Lake Malawi. The stomach contents of young individuals mainly consisted of unknown 1 mm hard, white warts (> 30%). To clarify the origin of these warts, we conducted an X-ray fluorometer analysis, and found they were rich in sulphur but low in silicon and calcium, suggesting they were epidermal tissues. Histological and morphological analyses revealed they were multicellular and cup-shaped. These characteristics matched only those of the pearl organs of the

SUBMITTER: Takeuchi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11358289 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature