The "Hyphen barb," Barbus bifrenatus, is a small (7 cm or
2¾ inch SL) fish found principally from the Upper Zambezi River,
through the Okavango, Kafue, and Zambian Congo, to the Cunene River on
the Atlantic coast. It also occurs, however, in several disjunct eastern
populations, some of which are in Malawi
(Skelton, 1993). The line drawings at
left illustrate variation in the prominent thin, black stripe (and
make it clear why this species is appropriately called the "hyphen barb");
note that fish (b) was collected in Lake Malawi proper.
B. bifrenatus can be distinguished from the other striped barbs
known from Lake Malawi and environs by details of its color pattern.
It is the only species with a thin, upwardly arched black stripe and
also black-pigmented tubules in its (downwardly arched) lateral line.
There is a brief summary of the Hyphen barb's biology at FishBase.
In addition to limited presence along the Lake Malawi shoreline, it
"[o]ccurs in floodplains, pools and shallow streams with vegetation [and]
[f]eeds on detritus, algae, seeds, small invertebrates... and aquatic
insect larvae.... Migrates upriver to breed after heavy rains...."
The "Hyphen barb," Barbus bifrenatus, is a small (7 cm or
2¾ inch SL) fish found principally from the Upper Zambezi River,
through the Okavango, Kafue, and Zambian Congo, to the Cunene River on
the Atlantic coast. It also occurs, however, in several disjunct eastern
populations, some of which are in Malawi
(Skelton, 1993). The line drawings at
left illustrate variation in the prominent thin, black stripe (and
make it clear why this species is appropriately called the "hyphen barb");
note that fish (b) was collected in Lake Malawi proper.
