Eggspots Elsewhere - Welt der Fische / World of Fishes

On the other hand, other authors recognise morphological indicators that speak against
any splitting into separate genera related to Astatotilapia. Thus WITTE & WITTE-MAAS (1987)
had previously discovered, from material used by GREENWOOD & GEE (1969) for their
descriptions, that the transition between Yssichromis and Astatotilapia is fluid. SNOEKS
(1994) found intermediate species from Lake Kivu such that there was no longer any clear
separation between Astatotilapia and Gaurochromis.
All in all, Astatotilapia is an example of why authors such as VAN OIJEN (1996) have
recommended that all haplochromine species from the Lake Victoria basin should for the
time being be left in the genus Haplochromis. This recommendation has long since been
adopted for other haplochromines (with exceptions such as the so-called Malawi
Haplochromis) by CLOFFA and well-known online databanks such as the Catalog of Fishes
and FishBase. However, recently the name Astatotilapia has again been used in these
online databanks. Because, in the absence of a newer and more precise diagnosis for this
genus, it is difficult to determine what actually constitutes Astatotilapia and what does not,
I would like to make a personal plea for the continued use of Haplochromis for the time
being. In the subsequent course of this article I will, nevertheless, use the genus names
that the authors in question have regarded as correct in the works cited. Even if I had
decided to do otherwise, a certain amount of confusion in this regard would still have been
inevitable.
A recent genetic, albeit only mitochondrial, study by GENNER & HAESLER (2010) finds that
from a phylogenetic viewpoint A. desfontainesi belongs to the modern haplochromines of
the mainly East-African/Nilotic lineage. It is thus relatively similar to A. flaviijosephi from
the Levant, but also to A. burtoni from
Lake Tanganyika. On this basis it
belongs to a relatively old and
apparently monophyletic lineage.
LIPPITSCH (1990) describes the
structure of a flank scale in A. burtoni
(as type 10), a typical Astatotilapia.
According to her granulation is visible
over the entire exposed part and
totally obscures the ring structure. It
consists of blunt grains or tubercles
which are often wart-like. Ctenii are
visible only at the very edge, if at all,
and are rather small.
Haplochromis desfontainesi
Haplochromis desfontainesi is known
only from Tunisia and Algeria. It is
regarded as a relict in permanent
waters in the basin of the former Chott
Right: Flank scale of H. desfontainesi. As LIPPITSCH
describes for type 10, the circuli on the exposed part of
the scale are totally obscured by granulation and ctenii
are present only at the extreme edge.
14
SCHRAML: Comparison of North African species