Pindu

Appearance

The normal coloration of the Pindu is solid black, lightening when breeding and even more so if stressed. Both sexes are similar in colour. The lateral line system on the head is markedly enlarged and a series of dark blotches along the sides is often marked.

It is a relatively robust with a body depth of 30.0–37.0% of its length. The maximum size for males is 9.1 cm.

Range and habitat

It is endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo, a volcanic crater lake with a diameter of just 3 miles in western Cameroon where only the top 40 metres contains acceptable oxygen levels to harbor vertebrate life. The Pindu is a critically endangered species of cichlid endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo in western Cameroon.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet

Cichlids defend a territory or a brood. Diet in the family runs from algae scrapers to piscivores; this page does not invent a menu for one species.

In crisis

It is threatened because of pollution and sedimentation due to human activities. It is potentially also threatened by large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the lake's bottom (compare Lake Nyos), although studies indicate that Barombo Mbo lacks excess amounts of this gas. Even so, at the moment, there are no introduced fish species on Lake Barombi Mbo and commercial fishing is banned.

Pindu is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Pindu, Wikidata item Q1940170. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.