Madagascar cichlid experts John Sparks and Melanie Stiassny have described a new species of Ptychochromis cichlid from northeastern Magdagascar.
The new species, Ptychochromis ernestmagnusi, is known from the middle to lower reaches of the Mananara River in northeastern Madagascar, where it is likely to be found in areas with a rocky and sandy substrate.
Naming the species in a recent issue of the journal Zootaxa, the authors distinguish it from congeners by a unique shape of the palatine (a bone in the upper jaw) and a combination of other characters.
The supraneurals (bones between the dorsal-fin supports and the head) have a characteristically flattened dorsal profile, the fish has vertically oriented lateral flank bars, conspicuous iridescent spangling on the flank and dorsal fin near its base, a dusky greyish-green base coloration, four lachrymal laterosensory foramina, and a total of seven infraorbital bones.
For more information, see the paper: Sparks, JS and MLJ Stiassny (2010) A new species of Ptychochromis from northeastern Madagascar (Teleostei:
Cichlidae), with an updated phylogeny and revised diagnosis for the genus. Zootaxa 2341, pp. 33–51.