Neolamprologus

Piet Verburg & Roger Bills, 2007, Two new cichild species Neolamprologus (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa., Zootaxa 1612, pp. 25-44 : 25-27

[[ Genus Neolamprologus ]]

Members of the genus Neolamprologus (49 described species, all but one endemic to Lake Tanganyika) are highly diverse, and the genus is probably not monophyletic (Poll, 1986; Schelly et al., 2003; Aibara et al., 2005). Within the genus Neolamprologus , 10 described species are characterised by a lunate tail with long filaments, uncommon among lamprologines. These closely related species form the stenotopic lithophilic N. savoryi complex (Poll, 1978; Brichard, 1989), of which several members are popular with the aquarium trade (Konings, 1998) and which are of interest to behavioural biologists (Balshine-Earn et al., 1998). The 10 members of the N. savoryi complex are, in chronological order of description: N. savoryi (Poll, 1949) , N. brichardi (Poll, 1974) , N. pulcher (Poll, 1974) , the latter two first described as subspecies of N. savoryi (Trewavas & Poll, 1952) , N. splendens (Brichard, 1989) , N. olivaceous (Brichard, 1989) , N. gracilis (Brichard, 1989) , N. falcicula (Brichard, 1989) , N. crassus (Brichard, 1989) , N. marunguensis Buescher, 1989 and N. helianthus Buescher, 1997 . The species complex has been referred to as the N. brichardi complex (Konings, 1998), but because N. savoryi was described first (Poll, 1949), while N. brichardi was described later as a subspecies of N. savoryi (Trewavas & Poll, 1952) , we here refer to the complex as the N. savoryi species complex. Here we report on two new species belonging to the complex, both of which occur at the Bangwe peninsula on the east coast of Lake Tanganyika, 5 km south of Kigoma (Tanzania, Fig. 1).

Most species in the N. savoryi complex, apart from N. savoryi and N. brichardi , have been reported only from small areas within the lake. Neolamprologus splendens , N. gracilis , N. helianthus , N. marunguensis , N. olivaceous , and N. crassus were reported from small areas (between 7°15'S and 7°50'S) on the west coast of the lake (Fig. 1). The type localities given in the species descriptions are Cape Zongwe for N. splendens , Cape Kapampa for N. gracilis , the coast stretching 20 km north from the Lunangwa river for N. helianthus and Kapampa for N. marunguensis . The type localities of N. crassus and N. olivaceous are not fully clear. Brichard(1989) gives in his description “in and around the Bay of Luhanga” as the locality for both species, and mentions their sympatric occurrence. Luhanga is in the very north west of the lake, near Uvira, and is likely a misspelling for Lunangwa Bay. The type locality written on the holotype label of N. olivaceous is Lunangwa Bay, in the south west of the lake, and on those of the holotypes of N. crassus and N. gracilis , Masanza is given as the locality. Masanza is near Cape Kapampa, about 60 km north of Lunangwa Bay.

The type locality of N. falcicula is Magara, Burundi, in the north east of the lake. Neolamprologus savoryi and N. brichardi are the only species in the complex that occur almost lake-wide. Their type localities are Kigoma and Kisoje respectively, both on the Tanzanian east coast. The type locality of N. pulcher is Kasanga, in the south east ( Maréchal & Poll, 1991). Much of the coast line has not been extensively investigated, and there may be more undiscovered species within the complex.