Bathybates

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Ovalentaria
Superordo: Cichlomorphae
Ordo: Cichliformes

Familia: Cichlidae
Subfamilia: Pseudocrenilabrinae
Tribus: Bathybatini
Genus: Bathybates
Species: B. fasciatus – B. ferox – B. graueri – B. hornii – B. leo – B. minor – B. vittatus
Name

Bathybates Boulenger, 1898:495

Type species: Bathybates ferox Boulenger, 1898. Type by monotypy.
References

Boulenger, G.A. 1898: Report on the fishes recently obtained by Mr. J. E. S. Moore in Lake Tanganyika. Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London, 1898 (pt 3): 494–497.
Takahashi, T. 2003: Systematics of Tanganyikan cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes). Ichthyological Research, 50(4): 367–382.

Bathybates is a genus of piscivorous cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. The genus includes both pelagic species that mainly feed on Tanganyika sardines and benthic species that mainly feed on other cichlids.[1] They are some of the deepest-living cichlids, regularly occurring down to 200 m (660 ft).[1]

They are elongated in shape with a silvery color and a dark spotted or striped pattern. Depending on the species involved, they reach lengths of up to 20.5 to 42 cm (8–16.5 in).[2]

Although not closely related, they have sometimes been compared to piscivorous Rhamphochromis cichlids of Lake Malawi.[3]
Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:[2]

Bathybates fasciatus Boulenger, 1901
Bathybates ferox Boulenger, 1898
Bathybates graueri Steindachner, 1911
Bathybates hornii Steindachner, 1911
Bathybates leo Poll, 1956
Bathybates minor Boulenger, 1906
Bathybates vittatus Boulenger, 1914

References

Kirchberger; Sefc; Sturmbauer; and Koblmuller (2012). Evolutionary History of Lake Tanganyika’s Predatory Deepwater Cichlids. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Volume 2012, Article ID 716209.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2017). Species of Bathybates in FishBase. April 2017 version.
Lindqvist, O.V.; H. Mölsä; K. Solonen; J. Sarvala, editors (1999). From Limnology to Fisheries: Lake Tanganyika and Other Large Lakes. Pp. 213—214. Springer. ISBN 978-0792360179