''Diplotaxodon ecclesi'' is a species of

haplochromine __NOTOC__ The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus (''Haplochromis'') plus a number of closely related genera such as '' Aulonocara'', '' Astat ...

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

. It is

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 elsew ...

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 fre ...

, in East Africa, where it is found in open water at mainly at the deeper levels, although it is rarely caught by trawling. Its main prey is the

Lake Malawi sardine The Lake Malawi sardine, lake sardine, or usipa (''Engraulicypris sardella''), is an African species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is endemic to Lake Malawi and its outlet, the (upper) Shire River; it is found in Malawi, Mozamb ...

(''Engraulicypris sardella'').

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the Senior Fisheries Research Officer of Malawi, David H. Eccles (b. 1932).

References

Fish of Malawi ecclesi Taxa named by Warren E. Burgess Taxa named by Herbert R. Axelrod Fish described in 1973 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fish of Lake Malawi {{Cichlidae-stub