Neolamprologus is a genus of cichlids endemic to eastern Africa with all species occurring in Lake Tanganyika. It is the largest genus of cichlids in Lake Tanganyika and also the largest genus in the tribe Lamprologini, which includes Altolamprologus, Chalinochromis, Julidochromis, Lamprologus, Lepidiolamprologus, Telmatochromis and Variabilichromis. The latter is a monotypic genus doubtfully distinct from Neolamprologus.
It is already known for some time that according to mtDNA sequence analysis, this genus is very probably polyphyletic. It is likely that it will be revised eventually; if Variabilichromis is split off, at least some of the more ancient lineages currently placed in Neolamprologus are probably worthy of separation also. However, the morphological similarity and numerous undescribed species do not make analyses easier, and as with many cichlids, recent speciation and abundant hybridization seriously confound molecular studies to the point where single-gene studies or those using only mtDNA or nDNA are essentially worthless for resolving Lamprologini phylogeny.Sturmbauer et al. (1994), Day et al. (2007)
While lineages are clearly different in their morphology, habits and ecology, gene flow between genera and species is common enough due to extremely low postzygotic isolation. Males of Neolamprologus apparently have always readily and successfully mated with females of other Lamprologini they found ready to spawn: mtDNA lineages similar to other Lamprologini genera are widely encountered in species placed in Neolamprologus. And not only do such hybrids seem to be fertile at least to a limited extent in many cases, new species often appear to originate from such interbreeding.Day et al. (2007)
Species There are currently 52 recognized species in this genus:
Neolamprologus bifasciatus Büscher, 1993 Neolamprologus brevis Boulenger, 1899 Neolamprologus brichardi Poll, 1974 Neolamprologus buescheri Staeck, 1983 Neolamprologus callipterus (Boulenger, 1906) Neolamprologus calliurus (Boulenger, 1906) Neolamprologus cancellatus Aibara, T. Takahashi & Nakaya, 2005 Neolamprologus caudopunctatus Poll, 1978 Neolamprologus christyi Trewavas & Poll, 1952 Neolamprologus cunningtoni (Boulenger, 1906) Neolamprologus cylindricus Staeck & Seegers, 1986 Neolamprologus falcicula (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus finalimus (Nichols & LaMonte, 1931) Neolamprologus furcifer Boulenger, 1898 Neolamprologus gracilis (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus kungweensis (Poll, 1956) Neolamprologus laparogramma (Bills & Ribbink, 1997) Neolamprologus leleupi Poll, 1956 Neolamprologus leloupi Poll, 1948 Neolamprologus lemairii (Boulenger, 1899) Neolamprologus longicaudatus Nakaya & Gashagaza, 1995 Neolamprologus longior Staeck, 1980 Neolamprologus marunguensis Büscher, 1989 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 ocellatus (Steindachner, 1909) Neolamprologus ornatipinnis (Poll, 1949) Neolamprologus pectoralis Büscher, 1991 Neolamprologus petricola Poll, 1949 Neolamprologus prochilus R. M. Bailey & D. J. Stewart, 1977 Neolamprologus pulcher Trewavas & Poll, 1952 Neolamprologus savoryi Poll, 1949 Neolamprologus schreyeni Poll, 1974 Neolamprologus sexfasciatus Trewavas & Poll, 1952 Neolamprologus signatus (Poll, 1952) Neolamprologus similis Büscher, 1992 Neolamprologus speciosus (Büscher, 1991) Neolamprologus splendens (Brichard, 1989) Neolamprologus stappersi (Pellegrin, 1927) Neolamprologus tetracanthus Boulenger, 1899 (Fourspine cichlid) Neolamprologus timidus S. O. Kullander, Norén, Mi. Karlsson & Ma. Karlsson, 2014 Neolamprologus toae Poll, 1949 Neolamprologus tretocephalus Boulenger, 1899 Neolamprologus variostigma Büscher, 1995 Neolamprologus ventralis Büscher, 1995 Neolamprologus walteri Verburg & I. R. Bills, 2007 Neolamprologus wauthioni Poll, 1949
Synonyms Neolamprologus crassus (Brichard, 1989); valid as N. pulcher Neolamprologus helianthus Büscher, 1997; valid as N. splendens Neolamprologus olivaceous (Brichard, 1989); valid as N. pulcher
Footnotes
References
(2007): Phylogenetic relationships of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid tribe Lamprologini: The story from mitochondrial DNA. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 45(2): 629–642. (HTML abstract) (1998): Tanganyikan cichlids in their natural habitat. Cichlid Press. (2003): Neolamprologus pulcher "Daffodil II". Fincinnati 2003. PDF fulltext (1994): Mitochondrial phylogeny of the Lamprologini, the major substrate spawning lineage of cichild fishes from Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa. Mol. Biol. Evol. 11(4): 691-703. PDF fulltext