Enteromius litamba (Keilhack, 1908)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Enteromius litamba is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It has long been placed in Barbus, the "wastebin genus" for barbs, by default, and this is still being done by the IUCN. However, the species is increasingly being restored by some taxonomists to the related yellowfish genus Labeobarbus, others place it in the genus Enteromius. It is presumably hexaploid like the other yellowfish. Its natural habitats are rivers and freshwater lakes. It is endemic to Lake Malawi and its river mouths in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. E. litamba is a large species. The biggest adults measure up to about 45 cm (18 in), but they usually remain well smaller. This shoaling freshwater fish prefers sandy substrates when young, while the adults occur in shoals in open waters in which they hunt search of food, although inshore waters are preferred. They are predators, eating mainly smaller fishes but also some insects (in particular when young). Its spawning grounds are not well known.
Wikipedia contributors, Enteromius litamba; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:27:47.742440+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Enteromius litamba (Keilhack, 1908)
- Name authority
- (Keilhack, 1908)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Enteromius
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCypriniformes
- familyCyprinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyBarbinae Bleeker, 1859
- genusEnteromius Cope, 1867
- speciesEnteromius litamba (Keilhack, 1908)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Enteromius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Enteromius afrovernayi (Nichols & Boulton, 1927) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius aloyi (Roman, 1971) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius anema (Boulenger, 1903) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius annectens (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1917) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius anniae (Lévêque, 1983) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius ansorgii (Boulenger, 1904) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius apleurogramma (Boulenger, 1911) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius aspilus (Boulenger, 1907) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius atromaculatus (Nichols & Griscom, 1917) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius bagbwensis (Norman, 1932) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius baudoni (Boulenger, 1918) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Enteromius bifrenatus (Fowler, 1935) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Labeobarbus litamba (Keilhack, 1908) (Keilhack, 1908) | synonym |
| Barbus limbata Keilhack, 1908 Keilhack, 1908 | synonym |
| Barbus rhoadesii Boulenger, 1908 Boulenger, 1908 | synonym |
| Barbus litamba Keilhack, 1908 Keilhack, 1908 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1526060 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:39YBT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.