Rhamphochromis is a genus of East African haplochromine cichlids endemic to the Lake Malawi basin, also including Lake Malombe, Lake Chilingali, Chia Lagoon and upper Shire River.Genner; Nichols; Carvalho; Robinson; Shaw; Smith; and Turner (2007). Evolution of a cichlid fish in a Lake Malawi satellite lake. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274(1623). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0619. They mainly occur in offshore open waters (down to depths of Lowe-McConnell, R.H. (2003). Recent research in the African Great Lakes: Fisheries, biodiversity and cichlid evolution. Freshwater Forum 20(1): 4—64.), but a few species also near the coast.Konings, Ad (1990). Ad Konings' Book of Cichlids and all the other Fishes of Lake Malawi. Pp. 458—464. . They are piscivores that typically feed on lake sardines and small utaka cichlids.
They are elongated in shape and mainly silver or golden-silver in color, sometimes with yellow fins (especially pelvic and anal fins) and dark horizontal lines along the body. Depending on the species involved, they reach lengths of up to .
Although not closely related, they have sometimes been compared to piscivorous Bathybates cichlids of Lake Tanganyika.Lindqvist, O.V.; H. Mölsä; K. Solonen; J. Sarvala, editors (1999). From Limnology to Fisheries: Lake Tanganyika and Other Large Lakes. Pp. 213—214. Springer.
Species There are currently six recognized species in this genus, although the naming of these cichlids has been complicated. For example, FishBase states that Rhamphochromis lucius is almost certainly a synonym of R. woodi whereas the Catalog of Fishes states that it is a synonym of R. esox. Rhamphochromis esox (Boulenger, 1908) Rhamphochromis ferox Regan, 1922 Rhamphochromis longiceps (Günther, 1864) (Tigerfish) Rhamphochromis lucius C. G. E. Ahl, 1926 Rhamphochromis macrophthalmus Regan, 1922 Rhamphochromis woodi Regan, 1922
The IUCN and the Catalog of Fishes recognise the following five species as valid within this genus: Rhamphochromis brevis Trewavas, 1935 Rhamphochromis esox (Boulenger, 1908) Rhamphochromis ferox Regan, 1922 Rhamphochromis longiceps (Günther, 1864) Rhamphochromis woodi Regan, 1922
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