# New Hap Species Discovered - Melanochromis mpoto



## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

Saw this article from April, didn't know if it was posted:

http://www.sci-news.com/biology/article00285.html

*New Haplochromine Cichlid Species Discovered in Africa*
Dr. Jay Stauffer from the Penn State University and Adrianus Konings from Cichlid Press have announced the discovery of a new haplochromine cichlid fish species in waters of Lake Malawi, Africa.









Melanochromis mpoto, male about 8 cm long in breeding coloration at Chitande Island, Lake Malawi (Adrianus Konings / Jay Stauffer / Zootaxa)

Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa, is located between Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi, and is the eighth largest lake in the world. The lake is the habitat of many species of fish, including up to 1,000 cichlid species.

The study, published in the journal Zootaxa, describes a new cichlid species of the genus Melanochromis.

Melanochromis is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi. These cichlids are small, slim but muscular, very aggressive fishes, distinguished by having a basic melanin pattern, which consists of two black horizontal lateral stripes on a light background. Most adult members of the genus have a sex-related reversal of pigmentation pattern.

The newly discovered species, called Melanochromis mpoto, measures up to 9 cm in body length.

"Breeding males: head and body cyan blue," the authors wrote. "Dorsal fin cyan blue with pale-blue distal margin and white lappets. Caudal fin cyan blue with pale-blue submarginal band and narrow yellow distal margin. Full male breeding color conceals basic melanin pattern typical of females and juveniles."

"Females: head brown/dark brown with gray/brown gular region. Body bluish-brown/dark brown, often with darker midlateral and dorso-lateral stripes and vertical bars. Dorsal and caudal fins gray/brown with broad yellow posterior edge; anal fin gray/brown with 1-3 tiny yellow spots."









Melanochromis mpoto, female about 5 cm long at Katale Island, Lake Malawi (Adrianus Konings / Jay Stauffer / Zootaxa)

The species name is derived from ChiTumbuka, a language spoken along the northwestern shore of Lake Malawi, and means "northern," referring to the distribution pattern of this species.

"M. mpoto has a wide distribution in the northern part of the lake and has been encountered along the northwestern shore between Chitande Island, near Chilumba, and Nkhata Bay, and on the northeastern shore between Matema and Hongi Island, near Liuli," the researchers wrote.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Thanks for sharing.


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## stayfrosty (Mar 31, 2011)

One would look awesome in my 180


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## Super Turtleman (May 21, 2007)

I think I like the female better than the male. Lol.


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## mbamba_boy (May 12, 2012)

I was thinking exactly that and that I would love to have them as the third species in my tank


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## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

mbamba_boy said:


> I was thinking exactly that and that I would love to have them as the third species in my tank


Yes! There can't be many Mbuna with females that are actually MORE attractive than males.


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## stayfrosty (Mar 31, 2011)

Thats not an mbuna right its a hap


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## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

stayfrosty said:


> Thats not an mbuna right its a hap


Gah, that's what I meant to say, sorry. Actually, I don't know as much about the other lakes, but it isn't common for *any* African cichlid, is it?


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## stayfrosty (Mar 31, 2011)

Now the question when and where can I get one


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

stayfrosty said:


> Thats not an mbuna right its a hap


It's both a Mbuna and a Haplochromine. In terms of how they use the term "Haps" with Malawi cichlids, it isn't part of the "Hap" group.

This fish is probably newly described with a scientific name, but was discovered years ago.


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## stayfrosty (Mar 31, 2011)

Melanochromis is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

stayfrosty said:


> Melanochromis is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi.


Yes, very true, and Melanochromis has always been considered to be part of the Mbuna group traditionally. Melanochromis is a Haplochomine and they are also part of the mbuna group. All Malawi cichlids are Haplochromines except for the few Tilapia species.


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## stayfrosty (Mar 31, 2011)

Well I want one now i have a mission for my tank. Or possibly a few


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## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

Well, I think we're all in agreement it's a really cool looking fish!


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Definitely. They're beautiful, love that the female is the 'prettier' of the two. Would love to have some in an aquarium!


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice looking fish.
Taxonomic history:
Melanochromis 'blue', Ribbink et al, 1983, provisional name.
Melanochromis robustus, Konings, 1995, misidentification.
Melanochromis spec. 'Matema', Schraml, 1998, provisional name.
Melanochromis benetos, Schraml, 1998, misidentification.
Melanochromis mpoto, Konings et al, 2012, original combination.
http://cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=767


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## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

Hmmmm.... The picture of the male that the Cichlid Forum article uses is exactly the same as the picture of the FEMALE used in the original article. The forum article also describe the females as brownish. Somebody is wrong somewhere, either in the original article, the forum article, or in the picture captions.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Good eye! That is indeed a female in the profile pic. Thanks for pointing that out, we'll get it updated asap.


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## mattrox (Jul 26, 2011)

It is a re-naming of Melanochromis robustus. The picture of the male is the same (mirror image) to the one on page 146 in "The Bible" 4th edn. Esentially it is separated out of the M. robustus species and this fish given a new one.
Read more here.
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2012/f/zt03258p027.pdf


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## iandraco (Jan 27, 2012)

love it.


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## witamygreatdanes (Sep 2, 2012)

So how and where do you get one?


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

witamygreatdanes said:


> So how and where do you get one?


Not sure if the fish is any easier to keep than other Melanochromis (which can be a pain), but the juveniles and females are not really that colourful and the male is light blue like many Mbuna, so this fish will be doubtful if it will ever become common in the hobby, such as the Chipokae. That said, it, like most species from the Lake could make interesting fish if keep in the right situation.

Here is a link to an interesting (but also a bit confusing) scientific paper about the revisions to Melanochromis which try to explain the research.
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2012/f/zt03258p027.pdf


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

So this is the new name for the old species Northern Blue?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't think so, that would be Melanochromis kaskazini.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

oi vay... my head spins.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

:lol:


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Why do us "old" folks constantly have to learn "new" names...lol


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## mattrox (Jul 26, 2011)

Floridagirl said:


> Why do us "old" folks constantly have to learn "new" names...lol


Long story short. So people know if a specimen is a different species or not.

Longer story.
Now that it has been determined that M. robustus is different from M. mpoto it helps hobbyists to keep species as wild type.

Average Joe Malawi enthusiast may track down some M robustus from different sources. They look different but have the same species name... hmmm this must be down to individual difference.... all in the same tank.... hybrids.


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