''Mchenga'' 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
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 ...
s
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
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
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 ...
. They are part of a group known as
utaka
image:Copadichromis_azureus.jpg, ''Copadichromis azureus'', one of the utaka of Lake Malawi in Africa
Utaka is the term used for open water-dwelling cichlids found in Lake Malawi, the most diverse source of cichlids in the world of aquaria. Among ...
.
Species
There are currently six recognized species in this genus:
* ''
Mchenga conophoros''
( Stauffer, LoVullo & McKaye, 1993)
* ''
Mchenga cyclicos''
( Stauffer, LoVullo & McKaye, 1993)
* ''
Mchenga eucinostomus''
(Regan
The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...
, 1922)
* ''
Mchenga flavimanus''
( Iles, 1960)
* ''
Mchenga inornata''
( Boulenger, 1908)
* ''
Mchenga thinos''
( Stauffer, LoVullo & McKaye, 1993)
References
Haplochromini
*
Cichlid genera
Taxa named by Jay Richard Stauffer Jr.
Taxa named by Ad Konings
{{Cichlidae-stub