A new Lake Malawi paedophagous cichlid, Cyrtocara liemi, is described. Cyrtocara liemi is probably most closely related to C. orthognathus. The ecology and behavior of C. liemi is discussed briefly.
[Additional notes, extracted by M.K. Oliver:] C. liemi and C. orthognathus
[both of which are now classified in the genus Caprichromis] can be easily distinguished
by the profile of the head, particularly gape inclination, which in C. liemi is
40-60° (mean=43.4) but in C. orthognathus is 60-80° (mean=66.6), and the
premaxillary pedicel inclination, which ranges from 20-30° (mean=23.7) in C. liemi
and 0-10° (mean=1.1) in C. orthognathus. The species is not common, but occurs in
the Cape Maclear (Nankumba Peninsula) region of Lake Malawi as well as in Nkhata Bay. It was
caught and observed by SCUBA divers only in areas where brooding cichlid females congregated.
C. liemi acquires eggs, embryos, and fry from the mouths of mouthbrooding cichlids.
It attacks the females from 0.5 m to 2 m below and hits them in the hyoid region of the head.
The only items found in their stomachs were eggs, embryos and larval cichlids. A more detailed
description of their ecology is found in McKaye & Kocher (1983).