Neolamprologus meeli is a cichlid

Cichlid

Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae

Pseudocrenilabrinae

The Pseudocrenilabrinae is a subfamily in the cichlid family of fishes to which, according to a study from 2004, includes all the Middle Eastern and African cichlids with the exception of the unusual Heterochromis multidens and the Malagasy species. Previous authors recognized additional African...

. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest freshwater lake...

, where it is found in the waters of Burundi

Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

, the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

, Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, and Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

.

It is sometimes placed in Lepidiolamprologus

Lepidiolamprologus

Lepidiolamprologus is a small genus of cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa. It is closely related to Altolamprologus....

, and this may well be appropriate. As it seems, it belongs to a group also including N. boulengeri

Neolamprologus boulengeri

Neolamprologus boulengeri is a species of fish in the Cichlidae family. It is endemic to the northern part of Lake Tanganyika, where is found in the waters of Burundi and Tanzania....

and N. hecqui

Neolamprologus hecqui

Neolamprologus hecqui is a species of fish in the Cichlidae family. It is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, where it is found in the waters of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia....

(both also probable members of Lepidiolamprologus), L. attenuatus

Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus

Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus is a species of fish in the Cichlidae family. It is found in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is intermittent freshwater lakes.-Source:...

and L. kendalli

Lepidiolamprologus kendalli

Lepidiolamprologus kendalli is a species of fish in the Cichlidae family. It is endemic to Zambia. Its natural habitat is freshwater lakes. Its status is insufficiently known.-Source:* Bigirimana, C. 2005. . Downloaded on 4 August 2007....

.

As hybridization seems to have played a major role in the radiation of this group, the exact relationships of the present species are obscure; one specimens was found to belong to an mtDNA lineage quite similar to L./N. hecqui, while another was distantly similar to L. kendalli in this regard. Perhaps the former observation is based on a misidentified specimen; in any case it appears that a somewhat closer relationship between the present species and L. kendalli than of either to any other lamprologine

Lamprologini

Lamprologini is a tribe of African cichlid fishes. It contains seven genera and nearly 100 species. Over half of the species in this tribe are in the large genus Neolamprologus. Most genera in the tribe are endemic to Lake Tanganyika, but one species of Neolamprologus Lamprologini is a tribe of...

 is more likely than not. Yet as this observation is only based on analysis of mtDNA sequence

DNA sequence

The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...

data, it may just as well be that the first L./N. meeli were the hybrid offspring of a Lepidiolamprologus female ancestral to L. kendalli and a Neolamprologus male, with subsequent hybridization of L./N. meeli and L./N. hecqui.