| Pseudocrenilabrus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cichliformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Tribe: | Haplochromini |
| Genus: | Pseudocrenilabrus Fowler, 1934 |
| Type species | |
| Pseudocrenilabrus natalensis Fowler, 1934 [1] | |
Pseudocrenilabrus is a genus of fish in the family Cichlidae, commonly known as the mouthbrooders endemic to rivers and lakes in Central and Eastern Africa. [2]
There are currently 4 recognized species in this genus: [2]
Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, Labroidei, along with the wrasses (Labridae), in the order Perciformes but molecular studies have contradicted this grouping. The closest living relatives of cichlids are probably the convict blennies 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.
Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. The lake is shared between four countries – Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania (46%) and DRC (40%) possessing the majority of the lake. It drains into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.
Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a variety of different animals, such as the Darwin's frog, fishes are by far the most diverse mouthbrooders. Mouthbrooding has evolved independently in several different families of fish.
Protomelas is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. The genus is part of the haplochromine tribe and have maternal mouthbrooding and sexual dimorphism typical of this group. Popular in the aquarium hobby, Protomelas species are sold under a variety of trade names.
Cyphotilapia is a small genus of African cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika, with C. frontosa being roughly confined to the northern half of the lake and C. gibberosa roughly to the southern half. They have a distinctly banded pattern, bulbous foreheads when mature and can reach up to 33 cm in length.
The poor man's tropheus is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. Until 2007 it was the only species in the genus Neetroplus, but at that time it was reclassified into the genus Hypsophrys. In 2016 it was restored to the genus Neetroplus based on genetic research by Říčan, et al.
Aulonocranus dewindti is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika and some rivers which flow into it.
The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus (Haplochromis) plus a number of closely related genera such as Aulonocara, Astatotilapia, and Chilotilapia. They are endemic to eastern, southern and northern Africa, except for Astatotilapia flaviijosephi in the Middle East. A common name in a scientific context is East African cichlids – while they are not restricted to that region, they are the dominant Cichlidae there. This tribe was extensively studied by Ethelwynn Trewavas, who made major reviews in 1935 and 1989, at the beginning and at the end of her career in ichthyology. Even today, numerous new species are being described each year.
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.
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.
Lethrinops is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. Particularly in the aquarium hobby, they are known as the sandeaters or sandsifters.
The Lake Chala tilapia is a species of cichlid fish that is endemic to Lake Chala, a small crater lake on the border of Kenya and Tanzania. It mostly lives in relatively deep water, at depths between 20–45 m (66–148 ft). It is considered critically endangered by the IUCN with the primary threats being deterioration of its habitat due to siltation, and other non-native tilapia species that have been introduced to Lake Chala. Before these introductions, the Lake Chala tilapia was the only fish in Lake Chala. It is very closely related to the similar Jipe tilapia, another highly threatened species from the same general region of Kenya and Tanzania. The Lake Chala tilapia can reach a standard length of up to 30 cm (12 in).
Oreochromis jipe, the Jipe tilapia, is a critically endangered species of cichlid fish native to Kenya and Tanzania, where it is restricted to Lake Jipe and the Pangani River. The population in the Pangani River shows some morphological differences compared to the population in Lake Jipe, and it is sometimes recognized as a separate species, the Pangani tilapia. Whether regarded as one or two species, the Jipe–Pangani tilapia forms a species flock with the threatened Lake Chala tilapia from the same general region of Kenya and Tanzania.
Orthochromis is a genus of relatively small haplochromine cichlids native to rivers and lakes in Eastern and Middle Africa. Most of its species are rheophilic.
Pundamilia is a small genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to East Africa, primarily in Lake Victoria. FishBase includes them in Haplochromis. The generic epithet comes from Swahili punda milia ("zebra") after their striped appearance.
Sargochromis is a genus of haplochromine cichlids native to freshwater habitats in Southern Africa, where found in the upper and middle Zambezi basin, Okavango delta, Cunene basin, Cuvelai basin and southeastern Congo basin. They are typically known as happies or smallmouths. The latter name refers to their small mouth compared to their close relatives, the largemouths of the genus Serranochromis. Unlike the species in that genus which mostly feed on other fish, Sargochromis mostly feed on invertebrates, but in some species plant material is important. On occasion they will also eat small fish, and the stomachs of S. carlottae and S. codringtonii commonly contain fish scales, but whether these are already-lost scales that are picked off the bottom or they are actively bumped off large fish is unknown. Some of the species that feed heavily on aquatic snails have been used for biological pest control. Sargochromis are mouthbrooders. Depending on the exact species, they reach a maximum total length of 20 to 48 cm (8–19 in).
Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi is a species of cichlid native to the Congo Basin in Africa. As other members of the genus Pseudocrenilabrus, it is a mouthbrooder. This species can reach a length of 8.5 centimetres (3.3 in) SL. The specific name honours the American ichthyologist John Treadwell Nichols (1883-1958) who was curator of fishes at the American Museum of Natural History. Nichols originally described this species as Paratilapia ventralis in 1928 but this name had already been used by George Albert Boulenger for another species of cichlid in 1898.
Iranocichla is a genus of fish in the family Cichlidae found in fresh and brackish waters in southern Iran. They are the only cichlids native to this country.
Pseudocrenilabrus philander or the southern mouth-brooder is a small species of haplochromine cichlid found in southern and central Africa. It was first described by the German-Dutch zoologist Max Carl Wilhelm Weber in 1897.
Pseudocrenilabrus pyrrhocaudalis, the fire-tailed pseudocrenilabrus, is a newly described species of small mouth-brooding haplochromine cichlid from Lake Mweru in south west central Africa. Its specific name is descriptive of its bright flame coloured orange tail in the breeding males which distinguishes it from the more widespread Pseudocrenilabrus philander.
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