Astatotilapia species (Teleostei, Cichlidae) from Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, excluding the basin of Lake Victoria.

Abstract

The haplochromine cichlid fauna of the rivers and smaller lakes of Tanzania and SE Africa are of key importance in understanding the origins and inter-relationships of the great lake cichlid radiations of Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria. Prior to formal taxonomic investigations, here we present the results of investigations of the type specimens, identification of type localities and superficial characterisation of freshly-collected material. The type locality of Astatotilapia bloyeti (Sauvage, 1883) is identified as the Mkondowa River, near Kilosa. This species appears to be the only haplochromine found in the Wami system. It is concluded that junior synonyms of A. bloyeti include A. strigigena (Pfeffer, 1893), A. kilossana (Steindachner, 1915) and A. paludinosa Greenwood, 1980. Astatotilapia sparsidens (Hilgendorf, 1905) is closely related and may constitute a junior synonym or a sister taxon. The range of A. bloyeti includes the Pangani system. The type locality for Astatotilapia gigliolii (Pfeffer, 1896) is identified as the Kingani River, or southern Ruvu, where it appears to be the only haplochromine in the river system. Junior synonyms include Astatotilapia vollmeringi (Steindachner, 1915) from the Great Ruaha River at Kidatu and Astatotilapia tweddlei Jackson, 1985 from Lakes Chilwa and Chiuta. The species is also reported from the lower part of the Rufiji system, the Ruvuma system and from other lakes and rivers in between. A few specimens were also collected in and around a fish farm at Songea, in the upper reaches of the Ruhuhu system (Lake Malawi catchment). Apart from this record, the only Astatotilapia species in the Lake Malawi catchment is A. calliptera. Four undescribed Astatotilapia species are identified from the Rufiji system, while other possibly undescribed taxa from the basins of Lake Tanganyika and Rukwa are discussed.

Systematic Review and Cranial Osteology of Petersius with Redescription of P. conserialis (Teleostei: Alestidae) from the Rufiji and Ruvu Rivers of Tanzania

“…The original description mentioned "Kinganiflusse in Deutsch-Ostrafrika," and subsequent authors indicated the type locality as the Kingani River at Dunda (Boulenger, 1909;Poll, 1967;Zarske, 2011). The Kingani River is an alternative name for the southern Ruvu River, with annotations of Stuhmann's 1890 expedition indicating Dunda near the current Mtoni Fort, west of Bagamoyo, eastern Tanzania (Turner et al, 2021). Thus, we herein consider the type locality of Petersius con- Petersius conserialis is seemingly endemic to lowland regions of the Rufiji and Ruvu rivers in the Pwani Region of eastern Tanzania (fig.…”

A whole-body micro-CT scan library that captures the skeletal diversity of Lake Malawi cichlid fishes

“…These included Astatotilapia gigliolli (n=2) and Astatotilapia sp. 'Ruaha blue' (n=2), native to the Great Ruaha River 66,67 . Construction of a mtDNA-based phylogeny initially placed Astatotilapia sp.…”

“…Astatotilapia is polyphyletic and current members of the genus are widespread across East and North Africa 6,66,67 . Only one species of Astatotilapia is native to Lake Malawi, Astatotilapia calliptera , which is also found in East African rivers flowing eastward to the Indian Ocean, from the Rovuma River in the north, to the Save River in the south.…”

“…Despite their wide distribution and relatively large intraspecific genetic variation, they phylogenetically cluster within the Lake Malawi radiation (Figure 1), forming a sister clade to the mbuna, with which they share an excess of alleles 4 . This pattern, alongside a perceived riverine ‘generalist’ lifestyle, has led to the hypothesis that either Lake Malawi cichlids radiated from an A. calliptera - like ancestor or that A. calliptera is the sympatric ancestor of all Lake Malawi cichlids 4,6,41,67 .…”

Revision of the African cichlid fish genus Ctenochromis (Teleostei, Cichliformes), including a description of the new genus Shuja from Lake Tanganyika and the new species Ctenochromis scatebra from northern Tanzania

“…The original generic description was based on two species, Ctenochromis pectoralis Pfeffer, 1893 and Ctenochromis strigigena Pfeffer, 1893. The latter was then synonymised with Astatotilapia bloyeti (Sauvage, 1883) by Regan (1922a), which remains the situation until today (Turner et al 2021). While regarding Ctenochromis as a junior synonym of Haplochromis Hilgendorf, 1888, Regan (1922a) also designated the type species as Ctenochromis pectoralis Pfeffer, 1893.…”