Practical Fishkeeping Magazine January 2018 Zurück Ausgabe

DISCOVER THE SENSATIONAL MALAWI EYE BITER
The Malawi eyebiter, Dimidiochromis compressiceps, was given its common
name in 1966, when Wickler found fish eyes in the stomach contents of wild
caught fish. In his book, ‘Malawi Cichlids in their natural habitat’, cichlid guru Ad Konings references this event, while at the same time stating that such eye eating behaviour had never been observed in the lake — and he should know. So, the eye-biting behaviour that gave this cichlid its name went down as a bit of an anomaly, and it’s certainly not the norm. I myself and other cichlid authors have also made that reference over the years and rejoiced in telling people that we, the informed, knew that they don’t actually eat eyes, so there was no need to worry when keeping them in captivity. Until I kept them again recently that is!