![]() The mbuna have specialized, ocellate egg dummy spots on the anal fin, much like those of haplochromines of the assemblage in Lakes Victoria, Edward, and Kivu, including the gradal "genus"Īstatotilapia (which lacks any defining synapomorphy). Of the lake than it is to the other flock. Although it has not been possible to show that either Lake Malawi flock is monophyletic, it does appear that each flock is more closely related to different cichlids outside Remaining endemic haplochromines (Oliver, 1984). It appears to me, however, that there are actually two haplochromine species flocks in the lake, one comprising the 11 genera of mbuna, the other including all the The haplochromine cichlids of Lake Malawi have long been called a species flock. Possible to point to one or more synapomorphies (shared specialized characters) in all members of the assemblage, characters lacking in relatives outside the flock. Thus, for an assemblage to merit the term "species flock," theoretically it should be Monophyletic origin." The clear implication, then, is that a species flock evolved within the ecosystem from a single ancestral species by repeated speciation events. should, strictly speaking, be applied to a species assemblage of As Greenwood (1974: 19) emphasized, "The term 'species flock'. Species flock is a group of closely related species all living in the same ecosystem. The blue photo background shows through the fin), enhancing the 3-D effect. Representative of the Mbuna species flock, has fewer, more specialized egg-dummies.Įach spot is surrounded by a narrow transparent ring (here appearing as a darker zone where In contrast, the anal fin of a mature male Cyathochromis obliquidens, They appear three- dimensional because of gradations of color from the edge of the spot to the center. The numerous spots are not surrounded by transparent rings. Spilopterus, showing yellow egg-dummy spots of the type characteristic of the "Hap" The anal fin of a sexually active male Protomelas What Is a Species Flock? What Is a Metaflock?
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