Home > Studies > List of Tanganyika cichlids

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Revised September 14, 2024

List of Tanganyika cichlids

Cichlid fishes in the East Africa form a huge monophyletic group. This group is called EAR and includes various species from lakes Tanganyika (LT), Victoria (LV) and Malawi (LM). The number of species in the EAR is still unknown, but more than 1000 species will be included. These species are devided into several lineages (tribes), and most of these lineages are endemic to LT. Thus, an ancestral species of the EAR may have diversified into several ancestral species of these lineges in LT or preexisted water systems, and then the ancestral species of these lineages were diversified into various species. At the second species diversification, some species may have colonised other places (e.g. LV and LM) and diversified there.

Some LT species are not included in the EAR. Probably, these species are recently colonised the lake after the diversification of EAR species.

	EAR tribes		LT tribes out of EAR
1.	Bathybatini	13.	Coptodonini
2.	Benthochromini	14.	Oreochromini
3.	Boulengerochromini	15.	Tylochromini
4.	Cyphotilapiini
5.	Cyprichromini
6.	Ectodini
7.	Eretmodini
8.	Haplochromini
9.	Haplochromini (old Tropheini)
10.	Lamprologini
11.	Limnochromini
12.	Perissodini

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EAR
1. Bathybatini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 18 species belonging to 3 genera.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. These three genera can sometimes be classified into two or three tribes (Koblmüller et al., 2008, Hydrobiologia 615:5-20).

Bathybates fasciatus Boulenger, 1901 Bathybates ferox Boulenger, 1898 Bathybates graueri Steindachner, 1911 Bathybates horni Steindachner, 1911 Bathybates leo Poll, 1956 Bathybates minor Boulenger, 1906 Bathybates vittatus Boulenger, 1914 Hemibates koningsi Schedel and Schliewen Hemibates stenosoma (Boulenger, 1901) Trematocara caparti Poll, 1948 Trematocara kufferathi Poll, 1948 Trematocara macrostoma Poll, 1952 Trematocara marginatum Boulenger, 1899 Trematocara nigrifrons Boulenger, 1906 Trematocara stigmaticum Poll, 1943 Trematocara unimaculatum Boulenger, 1901 Trematocara variabile Poll, 1952 Trematocara zebra DeVos, Nshombo and Thys van den Audenaerde, 1996

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EAR
2. Benthochromini Takahashi, 2003

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 3 species belonging to 1 genus.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. Main habitats are deeper than 30 m depth.

Benthochromis melanoides (Poll, 1984) Benthochromis tricoti (Poll, 1948) Benthochromis horii Takahashi, 2008

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EAR
3. Boulengerochromini Takahashi, 2003

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 1 species belonging to 1 genus.
Note: Females spawn eggs on flat surfaces of middle-sized rocks (tens centimeter in the longest diameter), and the eggs hach out after three days. Then, males (and also females?) carry the fry to holes on the ground by mouths. Pairs take care of eggs and fry for a long time. B. microlepis grows over 50 cm in standard length (a distance between the anterior tip of the upper jaw and the base of the caudal fin), being the largest of the Lake Tanganyika cichlids.

Boulengerochromis microlepis (Boulenger, 1899)

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EAR
4. Cyphotilapiini Salzburger, Meyer, Baric, Verheyen and Sturmbauer, 2002

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 3 species belonging to 2 genus.
Note: All species are mouthbrooder. Main habitats of these species are waters deer than 20 m.

Cyphotilapia frontosa (Boulenger, 1906) Cyphotilapia gibberosa Takahashi and Nakaya, 2003 Trematochromis benthicola (Matthes, 1962)

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EAR
5. Cyprichromini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 7 species belonging to 2 genera.
Node: All species are mouthbrooder. These species make mixed-species schools a few meter above rocky bottoms.

Cyprichromis coloratus Takahashi and Hori, 2006 Cyprichromis leptosoma (Boulenger, 1898) Cyprichromis microlepidotus (Poll, 1956) Cyprichromis pavo Büscher, 1994 Cyprichromis zonatus Takahashi, Hori and Nakaya, 2002 Paracyprichromis brieni (Poll, 1981) Paracyprichromis nigripinnis (Boulenger, 1901)

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EAR
6. Ectodini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 33 species belonging to 10 genera.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. Cyathopharynx includes at least two species: C. furcifer and the other species. The scientific name for the latter species is still in confusion (Takahashi and Hori, 2012, Int J Evol Biol 2012:article ID 980879). The classification of genera in this tribe is morphologically defined but partly contradicts molecular phylogenies (Koblmüller et al., 2004, J Mol Evol 58:71-96).

Aulonocranus dewindti (Boulenger, 1899) Callochromis macrops (Boulenger, 1898) Callochromis melanostigma (Boulenger, 1898) Callochromis pleurospilus (Boulenger, 1906) Cardiopharynx schoutedeni Poll, 1942 Cunningtonia longiventralis Boulenger, 1906 Cyathopharynx furcifer (Boulenger, 1898) Ectodus descampsi Boulenger, 1898 Grammatotria lemairii Boulenger, 1899 Lestradea perspicax Poll, 1943 Lestradea stappersii (Poll, 1943) Ophthalmotilapia boops (Boulenger, 1901) Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta (Poll and Matthes, 1962) Ophthalmotilapia nasuta (Poll and Matthes, 1962) Ophthalmotilapia ventralis (Boulenger, 1898) Xenotilapia albini (Steindachner, 1909) ? Xenotilapia bathyphila Poll, 1956 Xenotilapia boulengeri (Poll, 1942) Xenotilapia burtoni Poll, 1951 Xenotilapia caudafasciata Poll, 1951 Xenotilapia flavipinnis Poll, 1985 Xenotilapia leptura (Boulenger, 1901) Xenotilapia longispinis Poll, 1951 Xenotilapia melanogenys (Boulenger, 1898) Xenotilapia nasus DeVos, Risch and Thys van den Audenaerde, 1995 Xenotilapia nigrolabiata Poll, 1951 Xenotilapia ochrogenys (Boulenger, 1914) Xenotilapia ornatipinnis Boulenger, 1901 Xenotilapia papilio Büscher, 1990 Xenotilapia rotundiventralis (Takahashi, Yanagisawa and Nakaya, 1997) Xenotilapia sima Boulenger, 1899 Xenotilapia spiloptera Poll and Stewart, 1975 Xenotilapia tenuidentata (Poll, 1951)

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EAR
7. Eretmodini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 5 species endemic to 3 genera.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. The genera and species of this tribe are morphologically delimited, but the classification of this tribe partly contradicts molecular phylogenies (Rüber et al., 1999, Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 96:10230-10235)。

Eretmodus cyanostictus Boulenger, 1989 Eretmodus marksmithi Burgess, 2012 Spathodus erythrodon Boulenger, 1900 Spathodus marlieri Poll, 1950 Tanganicodus irsacae Poll, 1950

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EAR
8. Haplochromini Trewavas, 1983

Distribution: Wide distribution throughout the East Africa.
Number of currently valid species: Unknown.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. Hundreds of species exist in Lakes Malawi and Victoria, but classification for these fishes are still in confusion. Only two species are found in Lake Tanganyika, which are also distribute in rivers surround the lake.

Astatotilapia burtoni (Günther, 1893) Astatotilapia stappersii Poll, 1943

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EAR
9. Haplochromini Trewavas, 1983 (old Tropheini Poll, 1986)

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 25 species belonging to 9 genera.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. The species are classifired into nine genera, but this classification is not supported by molecular phylogenetic evidence (Sturmbauer et al., 2003, Hydrobiologia 500:51-64; Koblmüller et al., 2010, Mol Phylogen Evol 55:318-334). Although previously treated as a separate tribe, this group was included in the Haplochromini for the sake of phylogenetic consistency (Takahashi and Sota, 2016, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 100:234-242).

Chromis horei Günther, 1893 Interochromis loocki (Poll, 1949) Jabarichromis pfefferi (Boulenger, 1898) Limnotilapia dardennii (Boulenger, 1899) Lobochilotes labiatus (Boulenger, 1898) Petrochromis famula Matthes and Trewavas, 1960 Petrochromis fasciolatus Boulenger, 1914 Petrochromis horii Takahashi and Koblmüller, 2014 Petrochromis macrognathus Yamaoka, 1983 Petrochromis orthognathus Matthes, 1959 Petrochromis polyodon Boulenger, 1898 Petrochromis trewavasae trewavasae Poll, 1948 Petrochromis trewavasae ephippium Brichard, 1989 Pseudosimochromis curvifrons (Poll, 1942) Simochromis babaulti Pellegrin, 1927 Simochromis diagramma (Günther, 1893) Simochromis margaretae Axelrod and Harrison, 1978 Simochromis marginatus Poll, 1956 Simochromis pleurospilus Nelissen, 1978 Tropheus annectens Boulenger, 1900 Tropheus brichardi Nelissen and Thys van den Audenaerde, 1975 Tropheus duboisi Marlier, 1959 Tropheus kasabae Nelissen, 1977 Tropheus moorii Boulenger, 1898 Tropheus polli Axelrod, 1977

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EAR
10. Lamprologini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Lake Tanganyika, Congo River, Malagarasi River.
Number of currently valid species: 96 species belonging to 8 genera.
Note: All species are thought to be substrate brooder. Out of the 96 valid species, 86 species are endemic to Lake Tanganyika (see the list below), while nine inhabit the Congo River and one the Malagarasi River. The generic classification of these species is defined based on morphological features, but molecular phylogenetics do not support the monophylies of some genera (Sturmbauer et al., 1994, Mol Biol Evol 11:691-703; Schelly et al., 2006, Mol Phylogen Evol 38:426-438; Day et al., 2007, Mol Phylogen Evol 45:629-642; Sturmbauer et al., 2010, Mol Phylogen Evol 57:266-284).

Altolamprologus calvus (Poll, 1978) Altolamprologus compressiceps (Boulenger, 1898) Chalinochromis brichardi Poll, 1974 Chalinochromis cyanophleps Kullander, Karlsson, Karlsson and Korén, 2014 Chalinochromis popelini Boulenger, 1989 Julidochromis dickfeldi Staeck, 1975 Julidochromis marksmithi Burgess, 2014 Julidochromis marlieri Poll, 1956 Julidochromis ornatus Boulenger, 1898 Julidochromis regani Poll, 1942 Julidochromis transcriptus Matthes, 1958 Lamprologus callipterus Boulenger, 1906 Lamprologus finalimus Nichols and LaMonte, 1931 Lamprologus kungweensis Poll, 1956 Lamprologus laparogramma Bills and Ribbink, 1997 Lamprologus lemairii Boulenger, 1899 Lamprologus meleagris Boulenger, 1991 Lamprologus ocellatus (Steindachner, 1909) Lamprologus ornatipinnis Poll, 1949 Lamprologus signatus Poll, 1952 Lamprologus speciosus Büscher, 1991 Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus (Steindachner, 1909) Lepidiolamprologus cunningtoni (Boulenger, 1906) Lepidiolamprologus elongatus (Boulenger, 1898) Lepidiolamprologus kamambae Kullander, Karlsson and Karlsson, 2012 Lepidiolamprologus kendalli (Poll and Stewart, 1977) Lepidiolamprologus nkambae (Staeck, 1978) Lepidiolamprologus profundicola (Poll, 1949) Lepidiolamprologus mimicus Schelly, Takahashi, Bills and Hori, 2007 Neolamprologus bifasciatus Büscher, 1993 Neolamprologus boulengeri (Steindachner, 1909) Neolamprologus brevis (Boulenger, 1899) Neolamprologus brichardi (Poll, 1974) Neolamprologus buescheri (Staeck, 1983) Neolamprologus cancellatus Aibara, Takahashi and Nakaya, 2005 Neolamprologus caudopunctatus (Poll, 1978) Neolamprologus chitamwebwai Verburg and Bills, 2007 Neolamprologus christyi (Trewavas and Poll, 1952) Neolamprologus crassus (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus cylindricus Staeck and Seegers, 1986 Neolamprologus devosi Schelly, Stiassny and Seegers, 2003 Neolamprologus falcicula (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus fasciatus (Boulenger, 1898) Neolamprologus furcifer (Boulenger, 1898) Neolamprologus gracilis (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus hecqui (Boulenger, 1899) Neolamprologus helianthus Büscher, 1997 Neolamprologus leleupi (Poll, 1956) Neolamprologus leloupi (Poll, 1948) Neolamprologus longicaudatus Nakaya and Gashagaza, 1995 Neolamprologus longior (Staeck, 1980) Neolamprologus marunguensis Büscher, 1989 Neolamprologus meeli (Poll, 1948) Neolamprologus modestus (Boulenger, 1898) Neolamprologus mondabu (Boulenger, 1906) Neolamprologus multifasciatus (Boulenger, 1906) Neolamprologus mustax (Poll, 1978) Neolamprologus niger (Poll, 1956) Neolamprologus nigriventris Büscher, 1992 Neolamprologus obscurus (Poll, 1978) Neolamprologus olivaceous (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus pectoralis Büscher, 1991 Neolamprologus petricola (Poll, 1949) Neolamprologus pleuromaculatus (Trewavas and Poll, 1952) Neolamprologus prochilus (Bailey and Stewart, 1977) Neolamprologus pulcher (Trewavas and Poll, 1952) Neolamprologus savoryi (Poll, 1949) Neolamprologus schreyeni (Poll, 1974) Neolamprologus sexfasciatus (Trewavas and Poll, 1952) Neolamprologus similis Büscher, 1992 Neolamprologus splendens (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus tetracanthus (Boulenger, 1899) Neolamprologus timidus Kullander, Norén, Karlsson and Karlsson, 2014 Neolamprologus toae (Poll, 1949) Neolamprologus tretocephalus (Boulenger, 1899) Neolamprologus variostigma Büscher, 1995 Neolamprologus ventralis Büscher, 1995 Neolamprologus walteri Verburg and Bills, 2007 Neolamprologus wauthioni (Poll, 1949) Telmatochromis bifrenatus Myers, 1936 Telmatochromis brathygnathus Hanssens and Snoeks, 2003 Telmatochromis brichardi Louisy, 1989 Telmatochromis dhonti (Boulenger, 1919) Telmatochromis temporalis Boulenger, 1898 Telmatochromis vittatus Boulenger, 1898 Variabilichromis moorii (Boulenger, 1898)

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EAR
11. Limnochromini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 10 species belonging to 7 genera.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. They usually found waters deeper than 30 m depth.

Baileychromis centropomoides (Bailey and Stewart, 1977) Gnathochromis permaxillaris (David, 1936) Greenwoodochromis abeelei (Poll, 1949) Greenwoodochromis bellcrossi (Poll, 1976) Greenwoodochromis christyi (Trewavas, 1953) Greenwoodochromis staneri (Poll, 1949) Limnochromis auritus (Boulenger, 1901) Reganochromis calliurus (Boulenger, 1901) Tangachromis dhanisi (Poll, 1949) Triglachromis otostigma (Regan, 1920)

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EAR
12. Perissodini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Number of currently valid species: 9 species belonging to 4 genera.
Note: All species are thought to be mouthbrooder. Some species of this tribe are scale-eater. The classification of the genera is morphologically defined (Liem and Stewart, 1976, Mull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 147:319-350), but some molecular evidence does't support the monophyly of each genus (Koblmüller et al., 2007, Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 44:1295-1305; Takahashi R et al., 2007, BMC Evol Biol 7:195).

Haplotaxodon microlepis Boulenger, 1906 Haplotaxodon trifasciatus Takahashi and Nakaya, 1999 Perissodus eccentricus Liem and Stewart, 1976 Perissodus microlepis Boulenger, 1898 Plecodus elaviae Poll, 1949 Plecodus multidentatus Poll, 1952 Plecodus paradoxus Boulenger, 1898 Plecodus straeleni Poll, 1948 Xenochromis hecqui Boulenger, 1899

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not EAR
13. Coptodonini Dunz and Schliewen, 2013

Distribution: Lakes and rivers in Africa.
Number of currently valid species: 30 species belonging to 1 genus.
Note: Substrate brooder. Only one species is found in Lake Tanganyika but is not endemic to the lake.

Coptodon rendalli (Boulenger, 1896)

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not EAR
14. Oreochromini Dunz and Schliewen, 2013

Distribution: West, Central, and East regions of Africa.
Number of currently valid species: Number of species is unknown. 9 or 10 genera.
Note: All species are mouthbrooder. Two species inhabit Lake Tanganyika. O. tanganicae is endemic to the lake, and O. niloticus eduardianus is distributed to Lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward, George, and Albert.

Oreochromis niloticus eduardianus (Boulenger, 1912) Oreochromis tanganicae (Günther, 1893)

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not EAR
15. Tylochromini Poll, 1986

Distribution: Mainly rivers and lakes in the Western and Central Africa.
Number of currently valid species: 19 species belonging to a genus.
Note: All species are though to be mouthbrooder. Only one species inhabits Lake Tanganyika and is endemic to the lake.

Tylochromis polylepis (Boulenger, 1900)

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