Sleeping Cichlids

Last week I posted about a fish that posed as a leaf in the bottom of lakes and rivers (Leaf Fish), this week’s animal poses as something slightly more morbid. 

The Sleeping Cichlid (Nimbochromis livingstonii)

Unlike the leaf fish (who’s main aim was to remain undetected by prey), the Central American Sleeping Cichlid (Nimbochromis livingstonii) positions itself on and sometimes half emerged in the sand of river-beds feigning death, in order to attract prey. Opportunistic passers-by see the “corpse” and go in for an easy meal. Once the prey gets close enough the sleeping cichlid attacks
(Tobler, 2005; Chakrabarty, 2005).

A Sleeping Cichlid (Nimbochromis livingstonii) "sleeping" on the sandy river bed, feigning death to lure in unsuspecting prey (YouTube, 2015).

This deceptive behaviour allows the sleeping cichlid to catch prey unaware and have the benefit of surprise.

However! Once in a while, a larger fish may try to have a nibble, which the sleeping cichlid would have no chance of attacking and dart away speedily (Tobler, 2005).

References:

Chakrabarty, P. 2005, "Testing Conjectures about Morphological Diversity in Cichlids of Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika", Copeia, vol. 2005, no. 2, pp. 359-373.

Tobler, M. 2005, "Feigning death in the Central American cichlid Parachromis friedrichsthalii", Journal of fish biology, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 877-881.


 The sleeping cichlid by Gabriel, 2010
Accessed: www.malawi-cichlides.com

Nimbochromis livingstonii nakatenga by Genepy Power, 2010

Accessed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJMu1dA2PTk