New Species of Haplotaxodon (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, Africa

Abstract

LAKE Tanganyika, one of the Great Rift Valley lakes in central east Africa, is famous for the high levels of endemism among the cichlid fishes and some other animal groups (Coulter, 1991; Fryer, 1991). The monotypic cichlid genus Haplotaxodon Boulenger, 1906, also endemic to the lake, is quite distinct from other cichlid genera of the lake by the possession of a mouth which is directed upward and a single row of conical teeth on the jaws (Boulenger, 1906; Regan, 1920; Poll, 1986). During a series of scientific surveys of Lake Tanganyika, specimens of an undescribed species of Haplotaxodon were collected at various localities in the lake (Fig. 1).