Alticorpus macrocleithrum (Stauffer & McKaye, 1985)
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
Alticorpus macrocleithrum is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Lake Malawi, where it can be found at depths between 30 and 150 metres (98 and 492 ft). This species differs from all other species of Alticorpus by the presence of a prominent ventral protuberance of the cleithrum on the chest, hence the name macrocleithrum.
Like all members of Alticorpus, A. macrocleithrum has enlarged lateral pores on the lower part of the head. The feeding technique of these species is to 'listen' for any movements within the sediment. Once they have located a prey buried in the sediment, they will dart at it, picking it out of the sediment. The enlarged cleithrum found throughout these species acts as a base for the enlarged musculature needed to pull themselves free of the sediment once buried into it from chasing prey. Their diet can consist of many small organisms including crustaceans, larvae etc.
Wikipedia contributors, Alticorpus macrocleithrum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:58:41.815683+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Alticorpus macrocleithrum (Stauffer & McKaye, 1985)
- Name authority
- (Stauffer & McKaye, 1985)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cichliformes
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Genus
- Alticorpus
- 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
- orderCichliformes
- familyCichlidae Bonaparte, 1835
- subfamilyPseudocrenilabrinae Fowler, 1934
- genusAlticorpus Stauffer & McKaye, 1988
- speciesAlticorpus macrocleithrum (Stauffer & McKaye, 1985)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Alticorpus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Alticorpus geoffreyi Snoeks & Walapa, 2004 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alticorpus mentale Stauffer & McKaye, 1988 | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alticorpus peterdaviesi (Burgess & Axelrod, 1973) | CichlidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alticorpus profundicola Stauffer & McKaye, 1988 | CichlidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Cyrtocara macrocleithrum Stauffer & McKaye, 1985 Stauffer & McKaye, 1985 | synonym |
| Aulonocara macrocleithrum (Stauffer & McKaye, 1985) (Stauffer & McKaye, 1985) | 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=1011988 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:5TXRZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.