Cyrtocarina Oliver 2024, new subtribe
Creators: name: Oliver, Michael K.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Perciformes
Cichlidae

description: Cyrtocarina Oliver, 2024 new subtribe
Diagnosis
A distinct clade within the Pseudocrenilabrini. No morphological synapomorphies have been discovered, including in the present study. Members of this subtribe can, however, be distinguished from those of Pseudotropheina by the squamation on the chest transitioning gradually (versus abruptly) in size to the larger scales of adjacent areas; by the ovaries of adult females which are of subequal size (versus with left ovary atrophied); and by the anal fin maculae of mature males, if not secondarily lost, being simple brightly coloured ovals or streaks not surrounded by narrow, transparent, depigmented rings (versus true oval ocellae, each surrounded by a depigmented ring that, at least to human observers, lends the marks a three-dimensional appearance resembling cichlid eggs). Cyrtocarins can be distinguished from members of the Rhamphochromina by expressing a melanin pattern including (although often not as the dominant elements of the pattern) from 4 to about 10 vertical dark bars on the flanks and caudal peduncle, often with a mid-lateral longitudinal stripe and variably a stripe on the upper flanks, at least as a " fright pattern " (versus no vertical bars and usually no mid-lateral stripe and with simple silvery, grey, blackish or countershaded pigmentation); oral teeth of outer row closely spaced (crowns of adjacent teeth separated by a tooth's width or less), their crowns unicuspid, bicuspid or rarely tricuspid (versus always unicuspid, widely spaced in most species); demersal or epibenthic over sand, mud, rocky or intermediate habitats (versus pelagic, mid-water to deep-living).
Type genus: Cyrtocara Boulenger, 1902
Included genera: Alticorpus Stauffer & McKaye, 1988; Aristochromis Trewavas, 1935; Aulonocara Regan, 1922; Buccochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Caprichromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Champsochromis Boulenger, 1915; Cheilochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Chilotilapia Boulenger, 1908; Copadichromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Corematodus Boulenger, 1897; Ctenopharynx Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Cyrtocara Boulenger, 1902; Dimidiochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Docimodus Boulenger, 1897; Exochochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Fossorochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Hemitaeniochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Hemitilapia Boulenger, 1902; Lethrinops Regan, 1922; Lichnochromis Trewavas, 1935; Mchenga Stauffer & Konings, 2006; Mylochromis Regan, 1922; Naevochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Nimbochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Nyassachromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Otopharynx Regan, 1920; Placidochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Protomelas Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Sciaenochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Stigmatochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Taeniochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Taeniolethrinops Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Tramitichromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989; Trematocranus Trewavas, 1935; Tyrannochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989.
Distribution
Lake Malawi including its satellite lakes Chilingali and Chikukutu (Genner et al. 2007, Turner et al. 2019) and crater lakes Kingiri and Ilamba (Turner et al. 2019), as well as the upper Shire River, Lake Malombe and the middle Shire River.
Notes
Tawil (2001): 78, 81, 83 mentioned a " sous-tribu des Cyrtocarina ", but these mentions do not satisfy Code requirements for availability: for all new names published after 1999, Article 16.1 requires that they be indicated explicitly as intentionally new; Article 16.2 requires citation of the name of the type genus. Tawil's mentions of " Cyrtocarina " fail to satisfy these Articles. I had independently selected Cyrtocarina as the most logical and recognisable name for Lake Malawi’s large non-mbuna clade long before becoming aware of these invalid prior uses of this name.
Phylogenomic analysis of ultraconserved element (UCE) loci, based on a limited set of taxa, consistently resolved the Lake Malawi-endemic non-mbuna pseudocrenilabrines (other than Rhamphochromis) as a well-supported clade according to Hulsey et al. 2017 (also D. Hulsey in litt. 2 - Oct- 2022). However, the multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that would indicate monophyly at various UCE loci and would diagnose the subtribe have apparently not been specified, so are not yet usable diagnostic attributes.
There is evidence from chromosome inversions that introgression into some of the Cyrtocarina taxa from other lineages has occurred, including Astatotilapia, Diplotaxodon and, perhaps, Pseudocrenilabrus (Blumer et al. 2024 fig. 4; G. Turner, pers. comm.). Therefore, the evolution of this subtribe has been partly reticulate.
Vertebral and pterygiophore counts and most-frequent insertion patterns of the latter, are summarised in Tables 1, 2, but are not distinctive for this subtribe as a whole. Note that the genera Diplotaxodon, Pallidochromis and Rhamphochromis, previously classified with the above genera, are removed to a separate subtribe above.
description: Published as part of Oliver, Michael K., 2024, African cichlid fishes: morphological data and taxonomic insights from a genus-level survey of supraneurals, pterygiophores, and vertebral counts (Ovalentaria, Blenniiformes, Cichlidae, Pseudocrenilabrinae), pp. e 130707 in Biodiversity Data Journal 12 on page e130707, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e130707