Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses (Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this grouping. The closest living relative of cichlids is probably the convict blenny, and both families are classified in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World as the two families in the Cichliformes, part of the subseries Ovalentaria. This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,650 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families. New species are discovered annually, and many species remain undescribed. The actual number of species is therefore unknown, with estimates varying between 2,000 and 3,000.
Maylandia or Metriaclima is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. They belong to the mbuna (rock-dwelling) haplochromines.
Ethelwynn Trewavas was an ichthyologist at the British Museum of Natural History. She was known for her work on the families Cichlidae and Sciaenidae. She worked with Charles Tate Regan, another ichthyologist and taxonomist.
Diplotaxodon is a small genus of seven formally described, as well as a number of undescribed, deep-water species of cichlid fish endemic to Lake Malawi in east Africa. These fishes represent a remarkable adaptive radiation of offshore and deep-water adapted fish descended from ancestral shallow water forms. They include the dominant zooplankton-feeding fish of the offshore and deep-water regions of the lake, as well as a number of larger species that appear to feed on small pelagic fishes. Adult sizes range from 10 to 30 cm in total length, depending on species.
Paedophagy in its general form is the feeding behaviour of fish or other animals whose diet is partially, or primarily the eggs or larvae of other animals. However, P. H. Greenwood, who was the first to describe paedophagia, defines it to be a feeding behaviour evolved among cichlid fishes.
Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia is a species of fish endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. It is the type species of the genus Hemitaeniochromis, and is part of family Cichlidae in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae and the tribe Haplochromini.
Copadichromis borleyi is a species of haplochromine cichlid fish endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. The species is popular in the fishkeeping hobby where it is frequently kept in aquariums. The species has numerous common names, including redfin hap and goldfin hap.
Hemitaeniochromis is a small genus of cichlid fishes endemic to Lake Malawi in east Africa. The genus is distinguished from other genera of Lake Malawi Haplochromini by details of its melanic color pattern and by its dentition. The color pattern includes (1) a midlateral horizontal stripe starting at least an eye length behind the operculum, this stripe broken into separate spots at least on its front half, more nearly continuous on its rear half, extending to the end of the caudal peduncle; (2) a second (supralateral) stripe above the midlateral one that is only on the front part of the flanks, and which is also at least partly broken into spots; (3) above this at the base of the dorsal fin are 4 or 5 dorsal midline spots. The dentition of the jaws is also distinctive in fish at least 10 centimetres in length ; the outer teeth are roughly conical with a single cusp and are spaced apart from each other by about the width of the tooth.
Pseudotropheus johannii or the bluegray mbuna is an African freshwater fish from the family Cichlidae.
Parachromis friedrichsthalii, the Yellowjacket cichlid, is a species of cichlid native to Central America where it is found along the Atlantic Slope in Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. This species grows to a length of 28 centimetres (11 in) SL. This species is popular with anglers as a gamefish and can also be found in the aquarium trade. The specific name honours the Austrian explorer, botanist and archaeologist Emanuel von Friedrichsthal (1809-1842), who sent many specimens to Vienna from Central America, including the type of this fish.
Copadichromis geertsi is a species of haplochromine cichlid which is endemic to Lake Malawi.
Copadichromis sp. 'Virginalis Kajose' is a formally undescribed species of freshwater fish in the family Cichlidae. It is found in Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania, primarily in Lake Malawi. It is also present in the adjoining, recently formed Lake Malombe. It is abundant in parts of Lake Malawi and in Lake Malombe as well, in shallow waters, and has been a regionally important species for fisheries in both lakes.
Trematochromis benthicola is a ray-finned fish species in the cichlid family (Cichlidae), subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae and the tribe Haplochromini. It is found throughout Lake Tanganyika in the Burundian, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzanian, and Zambian shoreline. Its preferred habitat are the hidden recesses of caves in shallow water.
The Malawi eyebiter is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. This predatory cichlid is endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa.
Astatotilapia stappersii is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cichlidae. Adults measure about 15 cm (6 inches) in total length.
Melanochromis loriae is a species of cichlid in the Cichlidae endemic to Lake Malawi. This species can reach a length of 12.5 centimetres (4.9 in) TL.
The redbreast tilapia is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is found widely in the southern half of Africa. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is known as the redbreast kurper in South Africa.
Trematocranus is a small genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi.
Abactochromis is a monotypic genus of cichlid fish containing the single species Abactochromis labrosus. The genus name combines the Latin for "driven away from" with the commonly used haplochromine name "chromis". The name encompasses both the origin of the genus and the fish's solitary, wandering behaviour.
Amphilophus zaliosus is a species of cichlid that inhabits Lake Apoyo in Nicaragua. It is known in the aquarium trade as the arrow cichlid. It is an elongate species in the Midas cichlid species complex. The arrow cichlid shares its habitat with five other recently discovered species of this complex.
