Metriaclima aurora Burgess 1976
Creators: name: Ciccotto, Patrick J.
name: Konings, Adrianus
name: Stauffer, Jay R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Perciformes
Cichlidae
Metriaclima
Metriaclima aurora

description: Metriaclima aurora (Burgess 1976)
Fig. 2A &B
Coloration. Lateral body coloration blue dorsally in males from Likoma Island, Mara Point North, and N’kolongwe, but brown dorsally in males from Mbweca and Tumbi Point, with anterior portion of scales sky-blue and 6 faint blue bars below dorsal fin; caudal peduncle dark blue; yellow belly and breast fading to light blue towards anal fin. Head sky-blue with preorbital, ventral half of cheek, operculum, and preoperculum yellow; dark yellow/ green opercular spot; gular yellow. Dorsal fin yellow with submarginal sky-blue band and sky-blue blotches throughout. Caudal-fin rays yellow with light-blue membranes. Anal fin pale blue to pale yellow with one ocellus. Pelvic fin with light-blue leading edge, remaining yellow. Pectoral-fin rays pale yellow and membranes clear.
Female lateral ground coloration pale blue with center of scales orange/brown; belly white. Head brown; cheek and operculum with purple highlights; gray/black opercular spot; white gular. Dorsal fin brown with brown lappets. Caudal-fin rays brown with clear membranes. Anal fin gray proximally and brown distally with single small orange/brown ocellus. Pelvic fin with white leading edge; first two rays and membranes brown, remainder clear. Pectoral fin clear.
Remarks. Morphometric and meristic data for populations from Likoma Island, Mara Point, Mbweca, Tumbi Point, and N’kolongwe in Table 1. The lack of a black submarginal band in the dorsal fin, a yellow ventral half of the head, breast, and dorsal fin, and the light-brown colored females that have yellow fin-margins distinguish Metriaclima aurora from most members of the genus, except M. hajomaylandi, M. chrysomallos, and M. xanthos. Metriaclima aurora differs from M. hajomaylandi and M. chrysomallos by fewer (faint) vertical bars below the dorsal fin (6 vs. 7–9) and from M. xanthos by a shorter lower jaw (mean 31.2, range 28.4–33.5 % HL vs. mean 35.4, range 34.6–36.7).
All Likoma Island Mara Point
Distribution. Metriaclima aurora is distributed at Likoma Island (type locality) and along the coast of Mozambique at Mara Point, Mbweca, Tumbi Point, and a relatively isolated location to the south near N’kolongwe (Fig. 1). Mbweca and Tumbi Point are the only localities where the brown-barred males are found. Populations have been transplanted to Thumbi West Island, where the species has spread to several locations around Cape Maclear (Stauffer & Hert 1992; Konings 2001).
Material examined. USNM 215292, holotype; USNM 215293, 16; 69.2–83.8 mm SL; Malaŵi: Lake Malaŵi: probably Likoma Island; J. Freiberg, 5 May 1976. — PSU 4480, 20; 53.4–81.7 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: Mara Point North, 12° 11.254' S, 34° 41.968' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 17 Feb 2002. — PSU 4481, 19; 55.3–79.7 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: Mbweca, Lake Malaŵi, 12° 17.513' S, 34° 42.392' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 28 Feb 2006. — PSU 4482, 20; 60.8–79.3 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: Tumbi Point, 12° 20.297' S, 34° 41.853' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 17 Feb 2002. — PSU 4483, 20; 59.2–75.2 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: N’kolongwe, 12° 47.671' S, 34° 47.159' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 16 Feb 2002.
description: Published as part of Ciccotto, Patrick J., Konings, Adrianus & Stauffer, Jay R., 2011, Descriptions of five new species in the genus Metriaclima (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malaŵi, Africa, pp. 1-25 in Zootaxa 2738 on pages 3-6, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.204914