Hemitaeniochromis pumba, a new species of cichlid fish from Lake Malawi, Africa, with comments on related species.

George Francis Turner, Amelie Caldon

A new species of haplochromine (Pseudocrenilabrini) cichlid fish, Hemitaeniochromis pumba is described from Lake Malawi, named for its outwardly angled, tusk-like oral jaw teeth, recalling those of a pig or warthog. It is assigned to the genus Hemitaeniochromis Eccles & Trewavas 1989 on the basis of its dark horizontal midlateral band, broken anteriorly but continuous posteriorly, with a dotted supralateral band anteriorly, and possessing conical teeth. It is distinguished from H. urotaenia by its smaller mouth and the oral teeth in the outer series of the lower jaw, which are very small, deeply embedded in the oral mucosa and angled outwards (labially). Hemitaeniochromis brachyrhynchus and Protomelas spilopterus (which are compared and distinguished) have similar oral teeth, but a more steeply-angled gape. Although nothing is presently known of its diet, the form of the jaws and teeth are similar to species known or believed to be paedophagous among the cichlid assemblages of Lakes Edward, Malawi and Victoria. The species has previously been reported as H. sp. ‘insignis’ and H. sp. ‘deep’ and probably also as H. sp. ‘insignis mumbo’, H. sp. ‘urotaenia mumbo’, H. sp. ‘spilopterus jalo’ and H. sp. ‘spilopterus kande’.