''Benitochromis'' is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

fishes that are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to riverine and lake habitats in

Middle Africa Central Africa ( French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Middle Africa is an anal ...

(

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, including the island of

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

). Several of these species were originally assigned to the genus '' Chromidotilapia''. The name of this genus is derived from the type locality of the

Benito River The Benito is a river in Equatorial Guinea. It is known locally as the Mbini River, and, at least as it flows in its westerly part through the Monte Alen National Park, as the Uoro River. The river rises in Gabon and crosses into Equatorial Guin ...

in Equatorial Guinea compounded with ''chromis'', a word which originated with

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

and which may derive from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word ''chroemo'', meaning "to neigh" and which may have originally referred to the drums of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Order (biology), order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family co ...

and which was expanded to include cichlids,

damselfish Damselfish are those fish within the subfamilies Abudefdufinae, Chrominae, Lepidozyginae, Pomacentrinae, and Stegastinae within the family Pomacentridae. Most species within this group are relatively small, although the four largest speci ...

es,

dottyback The dottybacks are a family, Pseudochromidae, of fishes which were formerly classified in the order Perciformes or considered ''incertae sedis'' percomorphs, but are now considered basal blenniiforms. Around 152 species belong to this family. ...

s, and

wrasse The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine ray-finned fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into nine subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, ...

s, groups of perch-like fish which were thought to be more closely related to each other than they are subsequent studies have apparently found them to be.

Reproduction

Benitochromis nigrodorsalis ordinarily undergoes biparental reproduction, but is also capable of

facultative Facultative means "optional" or "discretionary" (antonym ''obligate''), used mainly in biology in phrases such as: * Facultative (FAC), facultative wetland (FACW), or facultative upland (FACU): wetland indicator statuses for plants * Facultative ...

(optional)

self-fertilization Autogamy or self-fertilization refers to the Cell fusion, fusion of two gametes that come from one individual. Autogamy is predominantly observed in the form of self-pollination, a Reproduction, reproductive mechanism employed by many flowering pl ...

(selfing).Böhne A, Oğuzhan Z, Chrysostomakis I, Vitt S, Meuthen D, Martin S, Kukowka S, Thünken T. Evidence for selfing in a vertebrate from whole-genome sequencing. Genome Res. 2023 Dec 27;33(12):2133-2142. doi: 10.1101/gr.277368.122. PMID 38190641; PMCID: PMC10760518 Facultative selfing likely occurs when a mating partner is unavailable.

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * '' Benitochromis batesii'' ( Boulenger, 1901) * '' Benitochromis conjunctus'' Lamboj, 2001 * '' Benitochromis finleyi'' ( Trewavas, 1974) * '' Benitochromis nigrodorsalis'' Lamboj, 2001 * '' Benitochromis riomuniensis'' ( Thys van den Audenaerde, 1981) * '' Benitochromis ufermanni'' Lamboj, 2001

References

Chromidotilapiini Fish of Africa Cichlid genera {{Pseudocrenilabrinae-stub