A critical revision of the churchill snoutfish, genus Petrocephalus Marcusen, 1854 (Actinopterygii: Teleostei: Mormyridae), from southern and eastern Africa, with the recognition of Petrocephalus tanensis, and the description of five new species

We morphologically and genetically studied the southern African electric fish Petrocephalus catostoma, or churchill, and its six nominal species, five of which by synonymization (three valid subspecies). We reinstate the synonymized species, and recognize Petrocephalus tanensis (Whitehead and Greenwood, 1959) from the Tana River in Kenya, also using electric organ discharges. The Okavango delta (Botswana) is inhabited by Petrocephalus okavangensissp. nov. and Petrocephalus magnitruncisp. nov., and the Namibian Cunene River by Petrocephalus magnoculissp. nov. We recognize Petrocephalus petersisp. nov. for the Lower Zambezi River (Mozambique), and Petrocephalus longicapitissp. nov. for the Upper Zambezi River (Namibia). The Lufubu River in Northern Zambia is inhabited by Petrocephalus longianalissp. nov. For the southern churchill, Petrocephalus wesselsi Kramer and Van der Bank, 2000, we confirm intraspecific and interspecific differentiation. Sequence data from mitochondrial DNA confirm differentiation of two new western and two eastern species, forming mutual sister groups.