''Gnathochromis'' is a small
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
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 ...
fish
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 ...
to the
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 second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
basin in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
.
The two species are distantly related (''G. permaxillaris'' close to other
limnochromines; ''G. pfefferi'' close to the
tropheines) and as presently defined ''Gnathochromis'' is
polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...
.
Species
There are currently two recognized species in this genus:
* ''
Gnathochromis permaxillaris
''Gnathochromis permaxillaris'' is a species of African fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to relatively deep waters in Lake Tanganyika in the countries of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. It is wid ...
''
( L. R. David, 1936)
* ''
Gnathochromis pfefferi
''Gnathochromis pfefferi'' is an African species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Lake Tanganyika and its slow-flowing tributaries in the countries of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. ...
''
(Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer
* Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo
* George Albert Boulenger (1858–1 ...
, 1898)
References
Limnochromini
Fish of Africa
Cichlid genera
Taxa named by Max Poll
{{Cichlidae-stub