Cichlid Fins

[doktor doris]

hullo,

do all cichlids have the very long fin on the top of their bodies?

And do they all posess the 2 fins next to their gills that they use alot?

And do they all posess 2 fins on the bottom of their bodies underneath the gill fins I mentioned in the last sentence?

thanks

doris

 

[dthoffsett]

do all cichlids have the very long fin on the top of their bodies? - Dorsal Fin

And do they all posses the 2 fins next to their gills that they use alot? - Pectoral Fins

And do they all posess 2 fins on the bottom of their bodies underneath the gill fins I mentioned in the last sentence? - Pelvic Fins

And yes, they all possess them.

 

[dthoffsett]

All fish in general have these fins dont they? I like the pelvic ones, how they stick them out while chasing another fish away.

I think the vast majority of fish do, if I remember right some bottom dwelllers such as gobies have modified pelvic fins to allow them to "walk" around rather than "swim". And in some species I belive the anal fins may not be present, not sure on that though.

 

[doktor doris]

By golly, you're right!

I'd never really looked, I just assumed that fish just had one pelvic fin, and I'd never noticed their pectoral fins before.
Mind you when you consider that I spent most of my time observing tetras and guppies it's not so suprising that I hadn't noticed them before!

However, in my first post I wasn't asking whether all cihlids have a dorsal fin.
Rather I was asking if all cichlids have such a long dorsal fin, all mine so far and all the ones I have looked at online have a fin that extends back almost to their tail, in fact just above the anal fin.

ta
doris

 

[dthoffsett]

However, in my first post I wasn't asking whether all cihlids have a dorsal fin.
Rather I was asking if all cichlids have such a long dorsal fin, all mine so far and all the ones I have looked at online have a fin that extends back almost to their tail, in fact just above the anal fin.

Oops, forgot to add that part, yes, all the pics and africans I've seen in person have long dorsal fins, they probably use it some to cut down on water resistance for more speed (have you noticed how fast they are ), but also for aggression/mating displays.