''Cynotilapia'' is a

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 ...

haplochromine __NOTOC__ The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus ''Haplochromis'' plus a number of closely related genera such as '' Aulonocara'', '' Astatotila ...

cichlids Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of Percomorpha, percomorph fish in the family (biology), family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been Binomial nomenclature, scientifically described, making ...

. All fishes in these genus form part of the

mbuna Mbuna (pronounced Mmm-boo-nah ) is the common name for a large group of African cichlids from Lake Malawi, and are members of the haplochromine tribe within the family Cichlidae. The name ''mbuna'' means "rockfish" in the language of the Tonga pe ...

flock, the rock-dwelling fishes of

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

, in the rift valley of

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

. All species are

polygamous Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one h ...

maternal A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestatio ...

, ovophile

mouthbrooders Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

and carry their fry in this fashion for about 20–30 days.

Species

There are currently 5 recognized species in this genus. * '' Cynotilapia afra'' ( Günther, 1894) * '' Cynotilapia aurifrons'' (

Tawil ''Ṭawīl'' (, literally 'long'), or ''al-Ṭawīl'' (), is a Meter (poetry), meter used in classical Arabic poetry. It comprises distichs (''bayt'') of two 'lines'—in Arabic usually written side by side, with a space dividing them, the first b ...

, 2011) * '' Cynotilapia axelrodi'' W. E. Burgess, 1976 * '' Cynotilapia chilundu'' Li, Konings & Stauffer, 2016 * '' Cynotilapia zebroides'' ( D. S. Johnson, 1975)

References

* Cichlid genera Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan {{Pseudocrenilabrinae-stub