''Bathybates'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

piscivorous A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. The name ''piscivore'' is derived . Piscivore is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophage, both of which mean "fish eater". Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evoluti ...

cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. The genus includes both

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

species that mainly feed on

Tanganyika sardine The Tanganyika sardine is known as kapenta or matemba in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe (a related but different fish known as dagaa or ndaga is ''Rastrineobola argentea''). Kapenta is two species (Lake Tanganyika sardine, ''Limnothrissa miodon'' a ...

s and benthic species that mainly feed on other cichlids.Kirchberger; Sefc; Sturmbauer; and Koblmuller (2012). Evolutionary History of Lake Tanganyika’s Predatory Deepwater Cichlids. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Volume 2012, Article ID 716209. They are some of the deepest-living cichlids, regularly occurring down to . They are elongated in shape with a silvery color and a dark spotted or striped pattern. Depending on the species involved, they reach lengths of up to . Although not closely related, they have sometimes been compared to piscivorous ''

Rhamphochromis ''Rhamphochromis'' is a genus of East African haplochromine cichlids endemic to the Lake Malawi basin, also including Lake Malombe, Lake Chilingali, Chia Lagoon and upper Shire River.Genner; Nichols; Carvalho; Robinson; Shaw; Smith; and Turner ...

'' cichlids of

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fr ...

.Lindqvist, O.V.; H. Mölsä; K. Solonen; J. Sarvala, editors (1999). From Limnology to Fisheries: Lake Tanganyika and Other Large Lakes. Pp. 213—214. Springer.

Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus: * ''

Bathybates fasciatus ''Bathybates fasciatus'' is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and t ...

'' Boulenger, 1901 * '' Bathybates ferox'' Boulenger, 1898 * ''

Bathybates graueri ''Bathybates graueri'' is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it forms schools and feeds mainly on clupeids. The specific name of this fish honours the Austrian explorer and zoologist Rudolf Grauer ...

'' Steindachner, 1911 * ''

Bathybates hornii ''Bathybates hornii'' is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it forms schools and feeds mainly on clupeids. This species is apparently rather rare. It is little known and it is normally recorded fro ...

'' Steindachner, 1911 * ''

Bathybates leo ''Bathybates leo'' is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it forms schools and feeds mainly on Clupeidae, clupeids. References

Bathybates, leo Taxa named by Max Poll Fish described ...

Poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places o ...

, 1956 * ''

Bathybates minor ''Bathybates minor'' is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the s ...

'' Boulenger, 1906 * ''

Bathybates vittatus ''Bathybates vittatus'' is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and th ...

'' Boulenger, 1914

References

Bathybatini * Cichlid genera Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger {{Cichlidae-stub