Telmatochromis

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} __NOTOC__ {{Automatic taxobox | image = Telmato-vittat-congo0.1 (1).jpg | image_caption = ''Telmatochromis vittatus'' | taxon = Telmatochromis | authority = Boulenger, 1898 | type_species = ''Telmatochromis temporalis'' | type_species_authority = Boulenger, 1898 }}

'''''Telmatochromis''''' is a small cichlid genus of the subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae. These ray-finned fishes are endemic to the Lake Tanganyika basin (mostly in the lake itself, but also its outflow rivers Malagarasi and Lukuga) in Africa.

==Systematics== Analysis of their mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) sequence shows that hybridization must have played some role in the evolution of this genus.<ref name = dayetal2007>{{cite journal|author=Day, Julia J.|author2= Santini, Simona |author3= Garcia-Moreno, Jaime|year=2007|title= Phylogenetic relationships of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid tribe Lamprologini: The story from mitochondrial DNA|journal=Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.|volume=45|issue=2|pages= 629–642|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2007.02.025 |pmid= 17416538 }}</ref>

For one thing, it might be that ''Telmatochromis'' is close to ''Julidochromis'', which they somewhat resemble. A possibility is hybridization between the ancestor of ''Telmatochromis'' and a lineage of ''Julidochromis'' which later gave rise to ''J. marlieri'' and the Convict Julie (''J. regani''). Similar ND2 DNA has been found in these and ''T. bifrenatus'', ''T. brichardi'' and ''T. temporalis''.<ref name = dayetal2007 />

''T. vittatus'' on the other hand has a ND2 DNA sequence resembling that of ''Lamprologus congoensis'' and ''L. teugelsi''. But ''T. vittatus'' does not at all appear very similar to these species, and in fact may well be closer to ''T. bifrenatus'' and ''T. brichardi'' than to ''T. temporalis''. That would mean that male ancestors of ''T. vittatus'' had successfully interbred with female ''Lamprologus'' after the lineage of the former had diverged from its relatives.<ref name = dayetal2007 />

==Species== There are currently nine recognized species in this genus:<ref>{{Cof genus | genus = Telmatochromis | access-date = 26 January 2026}}</ref> * ''Telmatochromis bifrenatus'' G. S. Myers, 1936 * ''Telmatochromis brachygnathus'' Hanssens & Snoeks, 2003 * ''Telmatochromis brichardi'' Louisy, 1989 * ''Telmatochromis devosi'' (Schelly, Stiassny & Seegers, 2003) * ''Telmatochromis dhonti'' (Boulenger, 1919) * ''Telmatochromis macrolepis'' (Borodin, 1931) * ''Telmatochromis salzburgeri'' Indermaur, Schedel & Ronco, 2024 * ''Telmatochromis temporalis'' Boulenger, 1898 * ''Telmatochromis vittatus'' Boulenger, 1898

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Telmatochromis Category:Lamprologini Category:Fish of Lake Tanganyika Category:Cichlid genera Category:Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger