A new species of pelagic haplochromine cichlid of the genus Diplotaxodon is
described from Lake Malawi, Africa. The species, which attains a size of 14 cm S.L.,
feeds mainly on zooplankton, shows no sexual dimorphism in size or body proportions,
breeds throughout the year and lives at depths of 20 to at least 120 m. Approximately
600 tonnes of the species were caught by trawlers in 1990-1991, in the south-eastern
arm of the lake alone. It appears that this species is a major component of the pelagic
community, and occupies an ecological role similar to that of the clupeid
Limnothrissa miodon in Lake Tanganyika.