Male at Ntekete
A male of Otopharynx styrax at Ntekete, Lake Malawi [Malawi]. Foto von Juan Miguel Artigas Azas. identifiziert durch Ad Konings

Familie
Cichlidae

Unterfamilie
Pseudocrenilabrinae

Tribus
Haplochromini

Gattung
Otopharynx


Zuletzt aktualisiert am :
24-Juni-2011

Otopharynx styrax Oliver, 2018


30-Okt.-2018 — Six new species of Otopharynx described
Von Juan Miguel Artigas Azas

A new paper by Michael K. Oliver contains the description of six new deep water Otopharynx cichlid species from Lake Malawi, to make a total of 20 species currently described in the genus. The new species are as follow: Otopharynx alpha, previously treated as Otopharynx 'auromarginatus stripe', is distinguished from congeners by its unique melanin pattern, to which the specific name alfa refers, a dot followed by a dash, representing “A” in International Morse Code; Otopharynx mumboensis, previously known as Protomelas sp. 'virgatus mumbo', is thought to be endemic to Mumbo Island in Malawi, it is separated from some congeners by the melanin pattern and from others by some meristic and morphometric traits; Otopharynx styrax, previously known as Otopharynx sp. 'torpedo blue' has a more elongate body than any congener, the specific name styrax is Greek for the metal spike at the lower end of a spear shaft, reflecting its elongated shape; Otopharynx aletes, previously referred as Oreochromis sp. 'molariform striped', is diagnosed by a combination of melanin, meristics and morphometric traits, the specific name aletes meaning grinder in Greek, and refers to its well-defined group of conspicuously enlarged molariform teeth on the lower pharyngeal bone; Otopharynx panniculus is also diagnosed by a combination of melanin, meristics and morphometric traits, most notably a square spot on the mid-flank which gives it its specific name, meaning “small cloth patch” in Latin; Finally Otopharynx peridodeka, previously referred as Trematocranus 'brevirostris deep', is similar to O. panniculus, but has more scales in the lateral line and a median of 12 lower gill rakers, versus a median of 14.5 in O. panniculus, the specific name peridodeka is a combined word meaning from Greek “around 12” which refers to this trait.

Oliver, Michael K.. 2018. "Six New Species of the Cichlid Genus Otopharynx from Lake Malawi (Teleostei: Cichlidae)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 59(2):159–197 (crc08933) (Kurzfassung)