Reproductive biology of the saddle cichlid, Aequidens tetramerus (Heckel, 1840) (Cichliformes: Cichlidae), in small forest streams in the Machado River basin, southwestern Amazonia
Igor David Costa,
Missilene Silva de Almeida Fachetti,
Natalia Neto dos Santos Nunes
Affiliations
Igor David Costa
Instituto do Noroeste Fluminense de Educação Superior, Universidade Federal Fluminense.
Missilene Silva de Almeida Fachetti
Universidade Federal de Rondônia
Natalia Neto dos Santos Nunes
Universidade Federal de Rondônia. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais
The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproductive strategy of Aequidens tetramerus in small streams of the Machado river basin, southwestern Amazon. We collected samples in two streams using seine and dip nets along a 50-m stretch of the stream. We collected 86 fishes, 19 males and 67 females (sex-ratio, 3.52 female:1male). Their body size varied from 1.5 to 11.5 cm. The size at first reproduction was 1.8 cm for females and 2.0 cm for males. The reproductive season of the species occurred in the dry period.
