Palaeoplex palimpsest

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Palaeoplex palimpsest
Systematics
Order : Cichliformes
Family : Cichlids (Cichlidae)
Subfamily : Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribe : Haplochromini
Genre : Palaeoplex
Type : Palaeoplex palimpsest
Scientific name of the  genus
Palaeoplex
Schedel , Kupriyanov , Katongo & Schliewen , 2020
Scientific name of the  species
Palaeoplex palimpsest
Schedel, Kupriyanov, Katongo & Schliewen, 2020

Palaeoplex palimpsest is a species of cichlid that occurs in the Kalungwishi and Luongo , a tributary of the Luapula in northeastern Zambia .

features

The specimens examined for the first description had a standard length of 33.2 to 143.4 millimeters and a total length of 42.2 to 176 millimeters. Outwardly, Palaeoplex palimpsest resembles the closely related Pseudocrenilabrus species. The basic color of the males is light brown to olive gray with the sides of the body and the tail stalk shining metallic greenish to turquoise. The belly is beige or whitish. The iris is brownish with some whitish spots. The gill cover shines golden-orange to greenish and has a blackish, metallic shimmering spot. The upper lip is olive-colored and has a greenish sheen, the lower lip is whitish and shiny greenish to turquoise. The Branchiostegal membranes are gray to turquoise in color. The dorsal fin is olive-colored to brownish and lined with black, its soft-rayed section is dotted with white. The anal fin is olive to brownish and also with whitish dots. The adult males have a Pseudocrenilabrus spot on the outer end of the anal fin, a feature that is typical of the Pseudocrenilabrus species group. The caudal fin is also olive to yellowish. Their coloring becomes less and less intense towards the end. The pectoral fins are transparent. The pelvic fins are blackish.

Females are gray to olive in color and they lack the striking greenish to turquoise sheen of the males. The sides of the body, throat, chest and tail stalk, however, have a slightly silvery sheen. On the sides of the body they show 7 to 9 vertical, gray stripes, which are mostly only indistinctly visible. As with the males, the iris is brownish with some whitish spots. The gill cover is silvery with a blackish, shiny gold spot. The lips are gray, the Branchiostegal membranes whitish to gray. The dorsal fin is the same color as that of the males. The anal fin of the females is yellowish without a dot pattern and without a Pseudocrenilabrus spot. The pectoral fins are transparent. The pelvic fins are yellowish to olive in color.

  • Fin formula: dorsal XIV-XV / 10-12, anal III / 7-9, ventral I / 5, pectoral 13-16, caudal 26-30.
  • Dandruff formula: mLR 28-31, SL 16-21 / 10-14.

Habitat and way of life

Palaeoplex palimpsest is only known from the Luongo, a tributary of the Luapula and from numerous places in the river basin of the Kalungwishi, which flows into Lake Mweru . On the Terra Typica , the Luongo is a river about 25 meters wide with an estimated depth of 1.5 meters. The river bank is thick with reeds and small trees. The species appears to prefer calm water and avoid fast-flowing areas. The molar-shaped teeth on the lower pharyngealia suggest that the species feeds on mollusks.

Systematics

The species was first mentioned in a scientific population in 1983, but at that time it was described as a population of the brass mouthbrooder ( Pseudocrenilabrus philander ). The first description of Palaeoplex palimpsest was published in January 2020. Its authors include the ichthyologists Frederic DB Schedel and Ulrich Kurt Schliewen from the Zoological State Collection in Munich , as well as their Zambian colleague Cyprian Katongo, who has already published numerous papers on the Pseudocrenilabrus species group. Within the cichlids, Palaeoplex palimpsest belongs to the tribe Haplochromini and there to the Pseudocrenilabrus species group, which differs from other Haplochromini by a reddish or orange spot ( Pseudocrenilabrus spot) on the outer end of the anal fin of adult males. A new genus was introduced because the species differs from Pseudocrenilabrus in some morphological and morphometric features and in its maximum size .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d Frederic DB Schedel, Viviane MS Kupriyanov, Cyprian Katongo & Ulrich Kurt Schliewen (2020): Palaeoplex gen. Nov. and Lufubuchromis gen. nov., two new monotypic cichlid genera (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from northern Zambia. Zootaxa, 4718 (2): 191-229. doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4718.2.3
  2. ↑ Balon, EK & Stewart, DJ (1983) Fish assemblage in a river with unusual gradient (Luongo, Africa Zaire system), reflections on river zonation, and description of another new species. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 9, 225-252. doi: 10.1007 / BF00692373 , page 237.