Abstract
IN most of the modern texts on evolution1, one of the outstanding proofs of speciation, that is, development of forms separated from one another under normal conditions by their immiscibility, without geographical isolation, is the very high number of species and genera of the Cichlidæ in almost every one of the great lakes in East Africa. This remarkable phenomenon (Woltereck's “schizotypische Artaufspaltung”) is characteristic only for the Cichlidæ of the East African lakes; other genera of freshwater fish can be represented in the same area also by more than one species, but in no other family is the diversity of types—some of them being specialized to a certain mode of life and nutrition—so well developed as in the Cichlidæ.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Worthington, E. B., "Geographical Differentiation in Fresh Waters with Special Reference to Fish", in "The New Systematics" (ed. by J. Huxley) (Oxford University Press, 1941).
Kosswig, C., "Kontinentalverschiebungstheorie und Fischverbrei-tung", C.R. Soc. Turque Sci. phys. nat., 11, 5 (1944).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
KOSSWIG, C. Selective Mating as a Factor for Speciation in Cichlid Fish of East African Lakes. Nature 159, 604–605 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159604b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/159604b0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Preface: advances in cichlid research V: behavior, ecology, and evolutionary biology
Hydrobiologia (2023)
-
Preface: advances in cichlid research III: behavior, ecology, and evolutionary biology
Hydrobiologia (2019)
-
Phylogeographic history of the genus Tropheus, a lineage of rock-dwelling cichlid fishes endemic to Lake Tanganyika
Hydrobiologia (2005)
-
Phylogeography and speciation in the Pseudocrenilabrus philander species complex in Zambian Rivers
Hydrobiologia (2005)
-
Evolution of the mitochondrial DNA control region in the mbuna (Cichlidae) species flock of lake Malawi, East Africa
Journal of Molecular Evolution (1997)