Melanochromis
| Melanochromis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male Golden Mbuna (Melanochromis auratus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Subfamily: | Pseudocrenilabrinae |
| Tribe: | Haplochromini |
| Genus: | Melanochromis Trewavas, 1935 |
| Type species | |
| Melanochromis melanopterus Trewavas, 1935 | |
Melanochromis is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in Eastern Africa. Ecologically, they belong to the rock-dwelling mbuna cichlids of Lake Malawi.
Melanochromis are typically small, slim but muscular fishes with lengthwise stripes of black, yellow and blue. They usually display strong sexual dichromatism.
Species
There are currently 15 recognized species in this genus:[1][2] Previously several additional species were included, of which many have since been moved to Pseudotropheus (the removed species are shown indented in the list below).
- Melanochromis auratus (Boulenger, 1897) (Golden Mbuna, Auratus Cichlid, Malawi Golden Cichlid)
- Melanochromis baliodigma Bowers & Stauffer, 1997
- Melanochromis benetos Bowers & Stauffer, 1997
- Melanochromis brevis Trewavas, 1935
- Melanochromis chipokae D. S. Johnson, 1975
- Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos Bowers & Stauffer, 1997 (Maingano)
- Melanochromis dialeptos Bowers & Stauffer, 1997
- Melanochromis elastodema Bowers & Stauffer, 1997
- Melanochromis heterochromis Bowers & Stauffer, 1993
- Melanochromis interruptus D. S. Johnson, 1975
- Melanochromis joanjohnsonae (D. S. Johnson, 1974) (Pearl of Likoma)
- Melanochromis johannii (Eccles, 1973) (Bluegrey Mbuna, Johanni Mbuna, electric blue johanni)
- Melanochromis kaskazini Konings-Dudin, Konings & Stauffer, 2009
- Melanochromis lepidiadaptes Bowers & Stauffer, 1997
- Melanochromis loriae D. S. Johnson, 1975
- Melanochromis melanopterus Trewavas, 1935
- Melanochromis mossambiquensis Konings-Dudin, Konings & Stauffer, 2009
- Melanochromis mpoto Konings & Stauffer, 2012.[1]
- Melanochromis parallelus W. E. Burgess & H. R. Axelrod, 1976 (Parallel-striped Mbuna) (a synonym of Melanochromis loriae according to Konings & Stauffer, 2012)[1]
- Melanochromis perileucos Bowers & Stauffer, 1997
- Melanochromis perspicax (Trewavas, 1935)
- Melanochromis robustus D. S. Johnson, 1985
- Melanochromis simulans Eccles, 1973
- Melanochromis vermivorus Trewavas, 1935 (Purple Mbuna)
- Melanochromis wochepa Konings-Dudin, Konings & Stauffer, 2009
- Melanochromis xanthodigma Bowers & Stauffer, 1997
References
- 1 2 3 Konings, Adrianus F.; Stauffer Jr., Jay R. (2012). "Review of the Lake Malaŵi genus Melanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with a description of a new species" (PDF). Zootaxa 3258: 1–27.
- ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013). Species of Melanochromis in FishBase. February 2013 version.
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