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Lake Malawi cichlids — species, locations & maps

Lake Malawi cichlids — species, locations & maps
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Buccochromis oculatus 'South East Arm'.jpg Diplotaxodon altus 'South East Arm'.jpg Diplotaxodon apogon 'South East Arm'.jpg Diplotaxodon longimaxilla 'South East Arm' (George Turner) 01.jpg Diplotaxodon macrops 'South East Arm'.jpg
Previous pageNext pageDiplotaxodon apogon 'South East Arm'
Genus: Diplotaxodon
Type locality: Off Monkey Bay, Lake Malawi
Biotope: Deep-water habitats over a muddy lake bottom, with records from about 80–130 m and frequent captures around 100 m.
Geographic distribution: Recorded from the southern arms of Lake Malawi, where it is reported as common in bottom-trawl catches from deep water.
Typical adult size: Up to 117 mm SL (about 14 cm total length) based on confirmed material.
Sexual dimorphism: Breeding males show strong countershading with a very dark dorsal surface, black pelvic fins, and a dark anal fin bearing one or two pale yellow eggspots; the dorsal fin shows a broad white margin with a contrasting darker posterior section. Females and immatures remain more uniformly silvery and countershaded, with white pelvic and anal fins and no eggspots; male pelvic fins are longer and may reach the anterior margin of the genital papilla, whereas female pelvic fins do not reach the vent.
Diet: Stomachs examined were empty or everted, but the steeply angled gape and long gill rakers have been interpreted as consistent with feeding on small midwater animals such as planktonic invertebrates or fish larvae.
Breeding: A maternal mouthbrooder with relatively small broods of large eggs; one female was recorded carrying 17 eggs up to 5.6 mm in diameter, and ovarian asymmetry has been noted with the right ovary larger. Reproductively active individuals have been taken in deep bottom trawls (around 100 m), consistent with spawning associated with deep benthic habitats, and breeding-condition fish have been collected in February and October.
Special notes: Breeding males are characterized by a pale underside and a broad white margin along the dorsal fin, contrasting with similar large-eyed congeners in which breeding males are described as dark-bellied and show a narrower white dorsal margin. Larger, large-eyed fish with similar male coloration reported outside the southern arms have been treated separately as Diplotaxodon sp. ‘offshore’.

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Photo: © George Turner
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Lake Malawi cichlids — species, locations & maps.
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