''Lepidiolamprologus meeli'' is a

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 ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Pseudocrenilabrinae The Pseudocrenilabrinae are a subfamily in the cichlid family of fishes to which, according to a study from 2004, includes all the Middle Eastern and African cichlids with the exception of the unusual '' Heterochromis multidens'' and the Malaga ...

. 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 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. ...

, where it is found in the waters of

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. It is sometimes placed in ''

Neolamprologus ''Neolamprologus'' is a genus of cichlids endemic to eastern Africa with all but one species, ''Neolamprologus devosi'' from the Malagarasi River, occurring in Lake Tanganyika. It is the largest genus of cichlids in Lake Tanganyika and also the l ...

'', and this may well be appropriate. As it seems, it belongs to a group also including '' N. boulengeri'' and '' L. hecqui'', '' L. attenuatus'' and '' L. kendalli''. Abstract

Etymology

This cichlid is named in honor of botanist Ludo van Meel (1908-1990), a member of the Belgian Hydrobiological Mission to Lake Tanganyika that took place between 1946 and 1947, during which the type specimen was collected.

Hybrids

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

ization seems to have played a major role in the

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

of this group, the exact relationships of the present species are obscure; one specimens was found to belong to an

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

lineage quite similar to ''L./N. hecqui'', while another was distantly similar to ''L. kendalli'' in this regard. Perhaps the former observation is based on a misidentified specimen; in any case it appears that a somewhat closer relationship between the present species and ''L. kendalli'' than of either to any other lamprologine is more likely than not. Yet as this observation is only based on analysis of

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

data, it may just as well be that the first ''L./N. meeli'' were the hybrid offspring of a ''Lepidiolamprologus'' female ancestral to ''L. kendalli'' and a ''Neolamprologus'' male, with subsequent hybridization of ''L./N. meeli'' and ''L./N. hecqui''.

References

meeli Taxa named by Max Poll Fish described in 1949 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Lamprologini-stub