Opsaridium microlepis (Günther, 1864)
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
The lake salmon or mpasa (Opsaridium microlepis) is an African species of freshwater fish, endemic to Lake Malawi, in the family Danionidae found in Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are rivers and freshwater lakes.
Wikipedia contributors, Lake salmon; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:26:11.271098+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Opsaridium microlepis (Günther, 1864)
- Name authority
- (Günther, 1864)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Opsaridium
- 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
- genusOpsaridium Peters, 1854
- speciesOpsaridium microlepis (Günther, 1864)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Opsaridium. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Opsaridium loveridgii (Norman, 1922) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium boweni (Fowler, 1930) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium splendens Taverne & De Vos, 1997 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium leleupi (Matthes, 1965) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium maculicauda (Pellegrin, 1926) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium ubangiense (Pellegrin, 1901) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium microcephalum (Günther, 1864) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium engrauloides (Nichols, 1923) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Opsaridium zambezense (Peters, 1852) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Barilius microlepis (Günther, 1864) (Günther, 1864) | synonym |
| Barilius tanganicae Boulenger, 1900 Boulenger, 1900 | synonym |
| Pelotrophus microlepis Günther, 1864 Günther, 1864 | 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=1018989 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:753XB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.