Editing Cichlid (section)

==Ecology==
{{More citations needed|date=October 2014}}

===Feeding===
Within the cichlid family, carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, planktivores, and detritivores are known, meaning the Cichlidae encompass essentially the full range of food consumption possible in the animal kingdom. Various species have morphological adaptations for specific food sources,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kullander |first1=S.O. |title=Family Cichlidae-Cichlids |url=https://www.fishbase.se/Summary/FamilySummary.php?ID=349 |website=FishBase |access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref> but most cichlids  consume a wider variety of foods based on availability. 
Carnivorous cichlids can be further divided into piscivorous and molluscivorous, since the morphology and hunting behavior differ greatly between the two categories. Piscivorous cichlids eat other fish, fry, larvae, and eggs. Some species eat the offspring of mouthbrooders by head-ramming, wherein the hunter shoves its head into the mouth of a female to expel her young and eat them.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jonna |first1=R. Jamil |title=Cichlidae |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Cichlidae/ |website=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology |access-date=3 December 2019}}</ref> Molluscivorous cichlids have several hunting strategies amongst the varieties within the group. Lake Malawi cichlids consume substrate and filter it out through their gill rakers to eat the mollusks that were in the substrate. Gill rakers are finger-like structures that line the gills of some fish to catch any food that might escape through their gills.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-375060-0.00003-6 |chapter=The Shark |title=The Dissection of Vertebrates |year=2011 |last1=De Iuliis |first1=Gerardo |last2=Pulerà |first2=Dino |pages=27–77 |isbn=978-0-12-375060-0 }}</ref>

[[File:Pseudotropheus Crabo Male.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The bumblebee cichlid, ''[[Pseudotropheus crabro]]'', is specialised in feeding on parasites from the catfish ''[[Bagrus meridionalis]]''.<ref name="Ribbink1982">{{cite journal |last1=Ribbink |first1=A.J. |last2=Lewis |first2=D.S.C. |title=Melanochromis Crabro Sp. Nov.: a Cichlid Fish From Lake Malawi Which Feeds On Ectoparasites and Catfish Eggs |journal=Netherlands Journal of Zoology |date=1981 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=72–87 |doi=10.1163/002829682X00058 }}</ref>]]
Many cichlids are primarily [[herbivores]], feeding on [[algae]] (e.g. ''[[Petrochromis]]'') and [[plants]] (e.g. ''[[Etroplus suratensis]]''). Small animals, particularly [[invertebrate]]s, are only a minor part of their diets.

Other cichlids are [[detritivore]]s and eat organic material, called ''[[Aufwuchs]]'' (offal); among these species are the [[tilapiine]]s of the genera ''[[Oreochromis]]'', ''[[Sarotherodon]]'', and ''[[Tilapia (genus)|Tilapia]]''.

Other cichlids are [[carnivore|predatory]] and eat little or no plant matter. These include generalists that catch a variety of small animals, including other fishes and [[insect]] [[larva]]e (e.g. ''[[Pterophyllum]]''), as well as variety of specialists. ''[[Trematocranus]]'' is a specialized [[snail]]-eater, while ''[[Pungu maclareni]]'' feeds on [[Porifera|sponges]]. A number of cichlids feed on other fish, either entirely or in part. ''[[Crenicichla]]'' species are stealth predators that lunge from concealment at passing small fish, while ''[[Rhamphochromis]]'' species are open-water pursuit predators that chase down their prey.<ref name = "Oliver">{{cite web| author = Oliver, M.K. | date = 18 November 1999 | url = http://malawicichlids.com/mw08096.htm | title = Rhamphochromis esox | publisher = malawicichlids.com: The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi| access-date = 19 April 2007}}</ref> [[Paedophagy|Paedophagous]] cichlids such as the ''[[Caprichromis]]'' species eat other species' eggs or young, in some cases ramming the heads of mouthbrooding species to force them to disgorge their young.<ref name="Ribbink1997">{{cite journal | author = Ribbink, A.J.| author2 = Ribbink, A.C. | year = 1997 | title = Paedophagia among cichlid fishes of Lake Victoria and Lake Malawi/Nyasa | journal = South African Journal of Science | volume = 93 | pages = 509–512}}</ref><ref name="McKaye">{{cite journal|author = McKaye, K.R.| author2 = Kocher, T. | year = 1983| title = Head ramming behaviour by three paedophagous cichlids in Lake Malawi, Africa | journal = Animal Behaviour | volume = 31 | pages = 206–210 | doi = 10.1016/S0003-3472(83)80190-0| s2cid = 53156766 }}</ref><ref name = "Wilhelm">{{cite journal | author = Wilhelm, W. | year = 1980 | title = The disputed feeding behavior of a paedophagous haplochromine cichlid (Pisces) observed and discussed | journal = Behaviour | volume = 74 | pages = 310–322 | doi = 10.1163/156853980X00528 | issue = 3}}</ref><ref name="Konings">{{cite journal | author = Konings, A. | year = 2007 | title = Paedophagy in Malawi cichlids | journal = Cichlid News | volume = 16 | pages = 28–32}}</ref> Among the more unusual feeding strategies are those of ''[[Corematodus]]'', ''[[Docimodus|Docimodus evelynae]]'', ''[[Plecodus]]'', ''[[Perissodus]]'', and ''[[Genyochromis]]'' spp., which feed on scales and fins of other fishes, a behavior known as [[lepidophagy]],<ref name = "Trewavas">{{cite journal | author = Trewavas, E. | year = 1947 | title = An example of "mimicry" in fishes | journal = Nature | volume = 160| pages = 120 | doi = 10.1038/160120a0 | pmid = 20256157 | issue=4056| bibcode = 1947Natur.160..120T | s2cid = 4140785 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Eccles">{{cite journal | author = Eccles, D.H. | author2 = D.S.C. Lewis | year = 1976 | title = A taxonomic study of the genus ''Docimodus'' Boulenger (Pisces, Cichlidae) a group of fishes with unusual feeding habits from Lake Malawi | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 58 | pages = 165–172 | doi = 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1976.tb00826.x | issue = 2}}</ref><ref name="Nshombo">{{cite journal | author = Nshombo, M. | year = 1991 | title = Occasional egg-eating by the scale-eater ''Plecodus straeleni'' (Cichlidae) of Lake Tanganyika | journal = Environmental Biology of Fishes | volume = 31 | pages = 207–212 | doi = 10.1007/BF00001022 | issue = 2| bibcode = 1991EnvBF..31..207N | s2cid = 38219021 }}</ref> along with the death-mimicking behaviour of ''[[Nimbochromis]]'' and ''[[Parachromis]]'' species, which lay motionless, luring small fish to their side prior to ambush.<ref name="Tobler">{{cite journal | author = Tobler, M. | year = 2005 | title = Feigning death in the Central American cichlid ''Parachromis friedrichsthalii'' | journal = Journal of Fish Biology | volume = 66 | pages = 877–881 | doi = 10.1111/j.0022-1112.2005.00648.x | issue = 3| bibcode = 2005JFBio..66..877T }}</ref><ref name="McKaye81">{{cite journal | author = McKaye, K.R. | year = 1981 | title = Field observation on death feigning: a unique hunting behavior by the predatory cichlid, ''Haplochromis livingstoni'', of Lake Malawi | journal = Environmental Biology of Fishes | volume = 6 | pages = 361–365 | doi = 10.1007/BF00005766 | issue = 3–4| bibcode = 1981EnvBF...6..361M | s2cid = 24244576 }}</ref>

This variety of feeding styles has helped cichlids to inhabit similarly varied habitats. Its pharyngeal teeth (in the throat) afford cichlids so many "niche" feeding strategies, because the jaws pick and hold food, while the pharyngeal teeth crush the prey.