Язык: Английский, Немецкий
Страниц: 28

Первый том двуязычной монографии Эрвина Шрамля, посвященный группе Мбуна.

Mbuna - what are they?
Ever since their original introduction to the aquarium hobby the fish species covered by this volume have been known as "mbuna". The name is borrowed from the Chitonga language and is used by the native fishermen around Lake Malawi to describe the cichlids found along the rocky coastline. The name has also found its way into the scientific literature, where it has been applied as a collective term for a well-defined group of related species. Mbuna were also the first species to be exported from Lake Malawi for the commercial ornamental fish trade. The earliest date (1961) revealed by research applies only to a few specimens for display purposes. It was not until the middle 1960s that more extensive trade began, and even by the beginning of the 1970s only a few species were actually known to aquarists. Melanochromis auratus, Labeotropheus fuelleborni and L. trewavasae, as well as members of the Pseudotropheus zebra (now Maylandia) and Ps. tropheops complexes, were the first. A number of cichlid associations were founded round about this time, and quickly led to a wider distribution of these fishes. Because there has never been any practicable connection, transport-wise, between Lake Malawi and any seaport, before the days of air freight there was no possibility of earlier imports of fishes from this area, as it was the case with many other tropical species.