Abstract
IN a recent communication, Marlier and Leleup1 have described how the Tanganyikan Cichlid fishes of the genus Plecodus deliberately attack other fishes and bite off the scales, which are their sole or main means of subsistence. These authors mention the specialized, large, curved teeth which enable the species of Plecodus to feed in this way and remark on the apparent uniqueness of the habit.
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References
Marlier, G., and Leleup, N., Nature, 174, 935 (1954).
Bertram, C. K. Ricardo, Borley, H. J. H., and Trewavas, E., Report on the Fish and Fisheries of Lake Nyasa, pp. 60–61 (1924).
Boulenger, G. A., “Cat. Fresh-Water Fishes Africa”, 3, 494 (1915).
Trewavas, E., Nature, 160, 120 (1947).
Trewavas, E., Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (10), 16, 65 (1935).
Baerends, G. P., and Baerends-van Roon, J. M., Behaviour, Supp. 1, 30 (1950).
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FRYER, G., GREENWOOD, P. & TREWAVAS, E. Scale-eating Habits of African Cichlid Fishes. Nature 175, 1089–1090 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/1751089b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1751089b0
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