Less than half of the 800 or more estimated cichlid species from Lake Malawi are described, and many of those only in superficial terms. All kinds of taxonomic problems abound at both species and genus level. This makes studying these fishes quite a challenge. Several genera or parts of genera have been revised in this book; about forty new species have been described and many species reported for the first time, with each given a provisional working name. About 270 black and white or color illustrations of these fishes have been included to facilitate their identification.
The research reported in this book was carried out as part of the GEF/SADC Lake Malawi/Nyasa Biodiversity Conservation Project in Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique, financed by grants from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and with the support of the UK Department For International Development (DFID). Its results are based on the data collected during the two years of the first ever lake-wide survey program.
All of the chapters except one were written by members of the systematics team stationed at Senga Bay, Malawi: Jackie Chisambo, Thomas Nyasulu and Rhoda Walapa from Malawi, Ben Ngatunga from Tanzania, Joao Manuel from Mozambique, Mark Hanssens and Jos Snoeks from Belgium. The team of the Ncheni project coordinated by George Turner (UK) made a valuable additional contribution.
Dave Voorvelt, the GEF/SADC project's artist, has added a lot of extra scientific value to the book through his beautiful and accurate color illustrations of Malawi fishes.
360 pages; size 20 x 27 cm (8" x 11"); 75 color drawings; hundreds of black & white photos, maps, graphs; hardcover.
