Metriaclima aurora (Burgess 1976)

Ciccotto, Patrick J., Konings, Adrianus & Stauffer, Jay R., 2011, Descriptions of five new species in the genus Metriaclima (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malaŵi, Africa, Zootaxa 2738, pp. 1-25 : 3-6

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.204914
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6192248
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BB942A-0D76-8363-9DEF-FB04FF1DFA20
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Metriaclima aurora (Burgess 1976)
status

Treatment

Metriaclima aurora (Burgess 1976) View in CoL

Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2. A &B

Coloration. Lateral body coloration blue dorsally in males from Likoma Island, Mara Point North, and N’kolongwe, but brown dorsally in males from Mbweca and Tumbi Point, with anterior portion of scales sky-blue and 6 faint blue bars below dorsal fin; caudal peduncle dark blue; yellow belly and breast fading to light blue towards anal fin. Head sky-blue with preorbital, ventral half of cheek, operculum, and preoperculum yellow; dark yellow/ green opercular spot; gular yellow. Dorsal fin yellow with submarginal sky-blue band and sky-blue blotches throughout. Caudal-fin rays yellow with light-blue membranes. Anal fin pale blue to pale yellow with one ocellus. Pelvic fin with light-blue leading edge, remaining yellow. Pectoral-fin rays pale yellow and membranes clear.

Female lateral ground coloration pale blue with center of scales orange/brown; belly white. Head brown; cheek and operculum with purple highlights; gray/black opercular spot; white gular. Dorsal fin brown with brown lappets. Caudal-fin rays brown with clear membranes. Anal fin gray proximally and brown distally with single small orange/brown ocellus. Pelvic fin with white leading edge; first two rays and membranes brown, remainder clear. Pectoral fin clear.

Remarks. Morphometric and meristic data for populations from Likoma Island, Mara Point, Mbweca, Tumbi Point, and N’kolongwe in Table 1 View TABLE 1 . The lack of a black submarginal band in the dorsal fin, a yellow ventral half of the head, breast, and dorsal fin, and the light-brown colored females that have yellow fin-margins distinguish Metriaclima aurora from most members of the genus, except M. hajomaylandi , M. chrysomallos , and M. xanthos . Metriaclima aurora differs from M. hajomaylandi and M. chrysomallos by fewer (faint) vertical bars below the dorsal fin (6 vs. 7–9) and from M. xanthos by a shorter lower jaw (mean 31.2, range 28.4–33.5 % HL vs. mean 35.4, range 34.6–36.7).

All Likoma Island Mara Point

Distribution. Metriaclima aurora is distributed at Likoma Island (type locality) and along the coast of Mozambique at Mara Point, Mbweca, Tumbi Point, and a relatively isolated location to the south near N’kolongwe ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ). Mbweca and Tumbi Point are the only localities where the brown-barred males are found. Populations have been transplanted to Thumbi West Island, where the species has spread to several locations around Cape Maclear ( Stauffer & Hert 1992; Konings 2001).

Material examined. USNM 215292, holotype; USNM 215293, 16; 69.2–83.8 mm SL; Malaŵi: Lake Malaŵi: probably Likoma Island; J. Freiberg, 5 May 1976. — PSU 4480, 20; 53.4–81.7 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: Mara Point North, 12° 11.254' S, 34° 41.968' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 17 Feb 2002. — PSU 4481, 19; 55.3–79.7 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: Mbweca, Lake Malaŵi, 12° 17.513' S, 34° 42.392' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 28 Feb 2006. — PSU 4482, 20; 60.8–79.3 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: Tumbi Point, 12° 20.297' S, 34° 41.853' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 17 Feb 2002. — PSU 4483, 20; 59.2–75.2 mm SL; Mozambique: Lake Malaŵi: N’kolongwe, 12° 47.671' S, 34° 47.159' E; A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer, 16 Feb 2002.

mean Standard length, mm 70.4 Head length, mm 21.7 Percentage of standard length	holotype 80.5 24.9	n=17 mean 76.7 24	range 69.2–83.8 21.9–25.8	n=20 mean 66.5 20.4	range 53.4–81.7 16.3–25.5
Head length 30.8 Snout to dorsal 33.8 Snout to pelvic 38.1 Greatest body depth 32.6	30.9 32.9 40.3 30.4	31.3 33.6 39.4 31.3	29.9–32.7 32.0–35.1 37.6–42.2 29.5–33.2	30.6 33.7 38.3 33.2	29.3–32.3 31.3–35.9 36.6–40.1 31.2–36.0
Caudal peduncle length 14.3 Least caudal peduncle depth 11.7	15.4 11.1	13.9 11.9	12.2–15.4 10.8–13.0	14.2 11.8	13.2–15.6 10.9–12.8
Dorsal-fin base length 60.1 Anterior dorsal to anterior anal 52.4 Anterior dorsal to posterior anal 63.6 Posterior dorsal to anterior anal 29.4 Posterior dorsal to posterior anal 15.0 Anterior dorsal to pelvic-fin origin 36.0	61.5 53.2 63.8 29.9 16.3 34.4	60 52.9 63.5 29 14.4 34.6	57.3–61.5 50.1–56.5 60.6–66.6 27.0–30.7 12.5–16.3 32.5–36.7	60 52.7 63.7 29.5 15.1 36.5	57.1–61.9 51.1–54.9 61.3–65.8 27.5–30.9 13.5-16.4 33.4–39.9
Posterior dorsal to pelvic-fin origin 57.4 Percentage of head length Horizontal eye diameter 37.0 Vertical eye diameter 36.8 Snout length 26.9 Postorbital head length 39.3	53.2 36.6 36.4 29.8 39	54.3 37.6 37.2 26.4 38.5	49.5–56.2 35.5–39.8 34.9–40.3 23.7–29.8 37.2–39.8	58 36.8 36.5 25.5 39.1	56.1–60.6 35.1–38.1 33.3–38.2 23.4–27.9 36.9–41.6
Preorbital depth 21.8 Lower-jaw length 31.2 Cheek depth 23.1 Head depth 86.8	26.4 30.2 23.8 85.2	21 30.7 24.1 82.5	18.6–26.4 29.2–32.5 20.2–26.2 75.8–87.2	20.7 32 22.1 87.9	18.6–23.7 30.5–33.5 18.8–25.4 79.9–94.5
Meristics mode Dorsal-fin spines 18	17	mode 18	range 17–18	mode 18	range 17–19
Dorsal-fin rays 9 Anal-fin spines 3 Anal-fin rays 8 Pelvic-fin rays 5 Pectoral-fin rays 14 Lateral line scales 31	9 3 8 5 14 31	9 3 8 5 14 30, 31	8–10 3–3 7–8 5–5 14–15 29–32	9 3 8 5 14 31	8–10 3–3 7–8 5–5 13–14 30–33
Pored scales posterior to lateral line 2 Cheek scales 4 Gill rakers on first ceratobranchial 12 Gill rakers on first epibranchial 3 Teeth in outer row of left lower jaw 20 Teeth rows on upper jaw 3	2 4 11 3 17 3	0 4 12 3 22 3	0–2 4–5 10–13 3–4 17–26 3–4	2 4 11 3 18 3	0–2 4–5 10–13 2-4 12–25 3–4
Teeth rows on lower jaw 3	4	4	3–4	3	3–4