''Benitochromis'' is a small

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 ...

of cichlid fishes that are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to riverine and lake habitats in

Middle Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Eq ...

(

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and Equatorial Guinea, including the island of

Bioko Bioko (; historically Fernando Po; bvb, Ëtulá Ëria) is an island off the west coast of Africa and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of . The island is located of ...

). Several of these species were originally assigned to the genus ''

Chromidotilapia ''Chromidotilapia'' is a genus of cichlid fishes. The genus contains 11 species. Of these, 9 are from Central Africa, one (''C. guentheri'') is found from Liberia to Cameroon, while the remaining species (''C. cavalliensis'') is restricted to Côt ...

''. The name of this genus is derived from the type locality of the

Benito River The Benito is a river in Equatorial Guinea. It is known locally as the Mbini River, and, at least as it flows in its westerly part through the Monte Alen National Park, as the Uoro River. The river rises in Gabon and crosses into Equatorial Guine ...

in Equatorial Guinea compounded with ''chromis'', a word which originated with

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

and which may derive from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word ''chroemo'', meaning "to neigh" and which may have originally referred to the drums of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 gene ...

and which was expanded to include cichlids,

damselfish Damselfish are those within the subfamilies Abudefdufinae, Chrominae, Lepidozyginae, Pomacentrinae, and Stegastenae within the family Pomacentridae. Most species within this group are relatively small, with the largest species being about ...

es, dottybacks and

wrasse The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them le ...

s, groups of perch-like fish which were thought to be more closely related to each other than they are subsequent studies have apparently found them to be.

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * '' Benitochromis batesii'' ( Boulenger, 1901) * '' Benitochromis conjunctus'' Lamboj, 2001 * '' Benitochromis finleyi'' ( Trewavas, 1974) * '' Benitochromis nigrodorsalis'' Lamboj, 2001 * '' Benitochromis riomuniensis'' ( Thys van den Audenaerde, 1981) * '' Benitochromis ufermanni'' Lamboj, 2001

References

Chromidotilapiini Fish of Africa Cichlid genera {{Cichlidae-stub