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A systematic revision of the five-spotted Hemichromis complex (Cichliformes: Cichlidae) from West Africa and Lower Guinea, with the description of a new species from Cameroon

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Abstract

The group of large five-spotted Hemichromis species from West Africa and Lower Guinea was revised using an integrative approach combining morphometry (measurements, meristics and colour patterns) and genetics (cytochrome b gene). Specimens from 100 populations were sorted into three main groups on the basis of morphological criteria. Samples from Lake Bosumtwi clustered together with others from West Africa in a large well-supported clade (bootstrap values and posterior probabilities: 98/96/100), both in morphometric and genetic analyses, raising again the hypothesis of synonymy of H. frempongi with H. fasciatus. Samples from southern Lower Guinea, including the type locality (Gabon) of H. elongatus, constituted a second weakly resolved cluster (64/38/51), resulting from a potential admixture of populations of diverse origins which share common morphological traits. Populations from northern Lower Guinea (Atlantic coastal basins) and the upper Chad basin in Cameroon formed a third strongly supported clade (99/100/100), which corresponds to a new species, Hemichromis camerounensis sp. nov., herein described.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by the French National Agency for Research via the IFORA program and from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) through a BEST scholarship granted to the first author. The first author benefitted from visiting scholarships (FishBase, ABIC) to the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) through a framework agreement with the Belgian Development Cooperation. The International Foundation for Science provided funding to the first author for field work. Bamba Mamadou from the ‘Université de Cocody’, Elie Montchowui Hounnon from the ‘Université d’Abomey-Calavi’, Eva Decru and Maarten van Steenberge from the RMCA, Malthide Sinama from UPM, Zuzana Musilova from the University of Prague, Adrian Indermaur from the University of Basel and Isaure de Buron from College of Charleston provided samples and/or reviewed the manuscript. The Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (RMNH) in Leiden provided syntypes of Hemichromis fasciatus to Dr. Emmanuel Vreven (RMCA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management of Fisheries and Aquatic Ecosystems, Institute of Fisheries, University of Douala, PO Box 2701, Douala, Cameroun

    Arnold Roger Bitja-Nyom

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Ngaoundéré, PO Box 454, Ngaoundéré, Cameroun

    Arnold Roger Bitja-Nyom

  3. ISEM, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, CC 65, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 05, France

    Jean-François Agnèse & Antoine Pariselle

  4. Département de Biologie et Physiologie Animales, Université de Yaoundé I, BP 812, Yaoundé, Cameroun

    Charles Félix Bilong-Bilong

  5. UMR 1467 RECOVER, Aix Marseille Univ, INRAE, Centre St Charles, 3 place Victor Hugo, 13331, Marseille, France

    André Gilles

  6. Vertebrates Section, Ichthyology, Royal Museum for Central Africa , Leuvensesteenweg 13, B-3080, Tervuren, Belgium

    Jos Snoeks

  7. Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genetics, KU Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Jos Snoeks

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  1. Arnold Roger Bitja-Nyom
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Bitja-Nyom, A.R., Agnèse, JF., Pariselle, A. et al. A systematic revision of the five-spotted Hemichromis complex (Cichliformes: Cichlidae) from West Africa and Lower Guinea, with the description of a new species from Cameroon. Hydrobiologia 848, 3779–3803 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04506-5

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