Jewel Cichlid revision + 4 new species

[Mike Wise]

For those interested in Jewel Cichlids there is a recent revision + 4 new species: Lamboj, A. & Koblmüller, S. 2026. Who Is Who in Rubricatochromis Lamboj & Koblmüller, 2022 (Cichliformes, Cichlidae): Taxonomic Revision with Description of Four New Species and Revalidation of R. fugax. Fishes, 11 (9): 531 [1-44].

You can get a pdf. at: https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/11/9/531.

 

[MacZ]

Most surprising to me: R. exsul is now part of R. guttatus. Really unexpected.

 

[Mike Wise]

I guess genetics don't lie.

 

[MacZ]

Waiting for a confirming studiy but right now this completely acceptable.

 

[Chromedome]

The extreme diversity of R. guttatus is going to complicate hobby IDs for a very long time. It's been decades since the (even then) erroneous introduction of a bright red population as "lifalilli", and people still mislabel them.

Killifish from these regions have long been identified with location data, but most of those have been private collectors; commercial imports have been historically rare. Rubricatochromis have been mostly introduced by commercial imports, so this critical information is seldom available. As is done with Apistogramma, keeping populations separated is necessary, but without location data this is virtually impossible.

What fun we shall have!