Frontosa

Q&A About Lake Tanganyika Cichlids

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gregor.bauer
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:15 am

Frontosa

Post by gregor.bauer »

Hello Pam,

I have question about Cyphotilapia.
On page cichlidae.com Cyphotilapia is divided into this 3 genera:
C. frontosa
C. gibberosa
C. sp. '6-bars frontosa'

For last genera we can read this:
Cyphotilapia sp. '6-bars frontosa' inhabits the coastal region in the northern part of Lake Tanganyika, while C. gibberosa is found in the southern part. The boundaries of their distribution are Myako (east coast) and Kilewa Bay (west coast), were hybridization possibly occurs. The area where C. frontosa is found is embedded in that of Cyphotilapia sp. '6-bars frontosa', but it is restricted to a small zone around Kigoma [Zambia].

So if I understand correct "true" C. frontosa is just around Kigoma...
But under localities of C. frontosa there are locations southern of Myako (east) and Kilewa Bay (west) where it must be C. gibberosa.
What is correct now? Are upper description for C. gibberosa description wrong or are some localities under C. frontosa that must be under C. gibberosa?

Tnx,
Gregor
Pam Chin
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Re: Frontosa

Post by Pam Chin »

Hi Gregor,

Well I can see why that is a little confusing. But if you open the species page, under nomenclature history the current scientific name is C. frontosa. I am not sure why CRC still has them broke out, other than easy to look at, you don't have to scroll thru all the sp.north or 6 bar to get to the Zambians.

The gibberosa description by Takahashi & Nakaya was rejected because there was no solid proof that gibberosa was a separate species. Later studies have showed that the only differences between C. frontosa and C. gibberosa are cosmetic; bars, color. Takahashi later proved he himself was wrong and that they are all C. frontosa. DNA studies are a slow process but I hope they are working on them, until then it is all speculation.

C frontosa kigoma is called the original frontosa because it was the first one to be described in 1906. Gibberosa was described in 2003.

A complete history of the nomenclature and more info about later studies can all be found in the "Tanganyikan Cichlids In Their Natural Habitat" 3rd Edition - http://www.cichlidpress.com/books/details/tc3.html

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