Chelaethiops minutus (Boulenger, 1906)
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
Chelaethiops minutus is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika and its outflow, the Lukuga River, and is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. Juvenile C. minutus, i.e. those fish up to 75mm in length, live in the shallow waters near the shore. Max Poll discovered that the adult fish inhabit the pelagic zone and grow to 106mm. The adults are frequently caught in association with kapenta, the freshwater clupeids of Lake Tanganyika. In the light of the fishing lamps, C. minutus and kapenta are readily identifiable from their behaviour. Kapenta form dense schools around one metre below the surface, while C. minutus swim just below the surface and do not form schools. This species feeds on wind blown insects which have fallen onto the surface. This is the only cyprinid in the Lake Tanganyika basin which has specialised in feeding on insects from the surface, and this specialisation has enabled it to colonise the deeper waters of the open lake.
Wikipedia contributors, Chelaethiops minutus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:18:12.527310+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Chelaethiops minutus (Boulenger, 1906)
- Name authority
- (Boulenger, 1906)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Chelaethiops
- 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
- subfamilyDanioninae Bleeker, 1863
- genusChelaethiops Boulenger, 1899
- speciesChelaethiops minutus (Boulenger, 1906)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Chelaethiops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Chelaethiops elongatus Boulenger, 1899 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chelaethiops congicus (Nichols & Griscom, 1917) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chelaethiops bibie (Joannis, 1835) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chelaethiops rukwaensis (Ricardo, 1939) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Engraulicypris minutus (Boulenger, 1906) (Boulenger, 1906) | synonym |
| Neobola minuta Boulenger, 1906 Boulenger, 1906 | synonym |
| Chalaethiops minutus (Boulenger, 1906) (Boulenger, 1906) | 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=1018440 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:5XR79. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.