The holotype of Diplotaxodon ecclesi, an adult of unreported sex but apparently a male in breeding color (145.7 mm SL; USNM 210696), trawled off Monkey Bay, Malawi in 43 fathoms. Photo by Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod, from Fig. 2 of Burgess & Axelrod (1973) ; reproduced with the permission of T.F.H. Publications, Inc.

Breeding males of this species may be recognized by their overall dark gray or black coloration with white margin to the dorsal fin. Eccles & Trewavas (1989) reported that D. ecclesi was abundant at three trawl stations in depths of 40-70 fathoms in the vicinity of the Nankhumba Peninsula, southern Lake Malawi. However, Turner & Stauffer (1998), who redescribed D. ecclesi, considered the species to be known only from the holotype, remarking that "[d]istribution records given by Eccles & Trewavas (1989) are probably not reliable, as this species appears to have been confused with D. macrops and possibly D. apogon."
 

Last Update: 23 December 2000 Web Author: M. K. Oliver, Ph.D. Copyright © 1997-2021 by M. K. Oliver, Ph.D. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED