>^W^.-T 3 JA1 ff^^^^^ A review of the anatomy, taxonomy, p|yl6gefl$^$ 34 ] biogeography of the African neoboline cyprinid fishes **^ Gordon J. Howes Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Contents Introduction 151 Diagnoses, anatomy and taxonomy of the neoboline genera 152 Neobola .. 152 Chelaethiops 157 Mesobola gen. nov 168 Rastrineobola Phylogenetic relationships of the neoboline group 177 Neoboline distribution and its biogeographic implications 181 Acknowledgements References 1 84 Introduction In a review of the bariliine cyprinids (Howes, 1980), the genus Engraulicypris which previously had contained ten species was recognized as monotypic, its only species, E. sardella confined to Lake Malawi. Those species formerly included in Engraulicypris were re-assigned to the genera Neobola Vinciguerra, Chelaethiops Boulenger, and Rastrineobola Fowler, with the accompanying statement that they formed a monophyletic assemblage whose close relationships were with Asian phoxinines rather than with African bariliines (Howes, 1980: 196). Later, Howes (1983) modified these views and included Neobola, Chelaethiops and Rastrineobola among the bariliines, naming them as the neoboline lineage (see fig. 2 in Howes, 1983). Although a suite of supposed apomorphies characterizing the three genera were given (Howes, 1980: 195), together with lists of their contained species no detailed generic diagnoses were presented. The purposes of this paper are: 1 . To give diagnoses of the genera Neobola, Chelaethiops and Rastrineobola and establish a new genus to contain two species formerly assigned to Neobola. The characters used in these diagnoses are, for the greater part, those involving cranial anatomy. From previous studies (Howes, 1978; 1979; 1980; 1981; 1982; 198 3) and from out-group comparisons made in the course of this work it is clear that in cyprinids cranial characters provide the most pertinent information at all levels of investigation. 2. To review the taxonomy of the included species. Although the neoboline cyprinids are abundant in many lakes and rivers of east, central and west Africa, they are, as compared with other cyprinids poorly represented in collections both in terms of sample sizes and geographic range. The species are small-sized, pelagic zooplanktivores and form an import-ant part of the diet of many piscivores (see Fryer & lies, 1972; Lowe-McConnell, 1975; van Oijen, 1982). Previous taxonomic reviews have been those of Poll (1945) and Whitehead (1 962) but these authors relied for the most part on data compiled from the literature. Almost Bull. Br. Mm. nat. Hist (Zool) 47(3): 151-185 Issued 30 August 1984 151
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