The "Sleeper" : Nimbochromis Livingstonii

Playing the dead to hunt

Nimbochromis Livingstonii




The Nimbochromis Livingstonii can reach 20cm and is from Lake Malawi (Africa). In the wild he can own territories of 40m of surface. Needless to say that he should be kept in large aquariums, 500L being a minimum. What's interesting with this Cichlid is his hunting behaviour. He litterally plays the dead at the bottom of the lake waiting for other fish to eat his false carcass in order to eat them himself ! How smart for a fish ! But wait, that's a Cichlid and they have one of the most fascinating behaviour of all fish ! Below is a video of the Livingstonii hunting mode in his natural habitat :

 

 

Because of his hunting mode, this predator has been nicknamed "Sleeper". It does make sense considering what you can see in this video (credit: cichlidsforlife).Note that this can also be seen in aquariums large enough. How intelligent are Cichlids !

 

TheCichlidFanatic.