Little is known about mate recognition systems among the species-rich cichlid flocks of the
African Great Lakes. Such knowledge is critical to our understanding of how evolutionary
processes have brought about the current diversity. In the present study we focused on three
anatomically similar species of rocky shore cichlid fish Pseudotropheus (Maylandia)
spp. from Lake Malawi. We scored male responses to heterospecific and conspecific females which
were enclosed in separate watertight transparent chambers. Any male behaviour we observed was
therefore due to visual cues alone. Although males of some species could clearly identify
conspecific females on visual cues alone, others could not. In cases where conspecific and
heterospecific females were phenotypically similar, males could not consistently distinguish
between them. Further experiments are required, however, to see whether males can recognize
these females using alternative means, such as olfactory cues.