George Turner
@dlimnothrissa.bsky.social
UK-based prof of Zoology, father, African cichlid expert, lover of the natural world, museums, music, education, the welfare state.
Amazing development of the genital tassel on the dominant male Oreochromis squamipinnis (Lake Malawi endemic).
November 15, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Amazing development of the genital tassel on the dominant male Oreochromis squamipinnis (Lake Malawi endemic).
Diving beetle at RSPB Conway. Colymbetes fuscus?
July 10, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Diving beetle at RSPB Conway. Colymbetes fuscus?
A bundle of axolotls
July 9, 2025 at 9:23 PM
A bundle of axolotls
Butterwort- carnivorous plant
June 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Butterwort- carnivorous plant
Lake Malawi cichlids: even common, big, spectacular species are often a taxonomic mess, like these Taeniolethrinops species. Much work needed!
May 26, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Lake Malawi cichlids: even common, big, spectacular species are often a taxonomic mess, like these Taeniolethrinops species. Much work needed!
Seaside bluebells yesterday.
April 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Seaside bluebells yesterday.
Only described in 1977, Lethrinops microdon, once the dominant species in the bottom trawl fishery in southern Lake Malawi, had disappeared completely by the late 1990s. We rediscovered it in very deep water at the northern end of the lake in 2023.
April 18, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Only described in 1977, Lethrinops microdon, once the dominant species in the bottom trawl fishery in southern Lake Malawi, had disappeared completely by the late 1990s. We rediscovered it in very deep water at the northern end of the lake in 2023.
Lethrinops micrentodon is another species that seems to have disappeared in the southern parts of Lake Malawi but cropped up again in the north. It has a similar pharyngeal bone to L. stridei & L. microdon (many tiny closely-packed teeth) but fewer gillrakers. It feeds mainly on sedimented diatoms.
April 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Lethrinops micrentodon is another species that seems to have disappeared in the southern parts of Lake Malawi but cropped up again in the north. It has a similar pharyngeal bone to L. stridei & L. microdon (many tiny closely-packed teeth) but fewer gillrakers. It feeds mainly on sedimented diatoms.
Early pink campion yesterday, near Bangor golf course
April 18, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Early pink campion yesterday, near Bangor golf course
Lamps on Bangor Pier. Love the attention to detail! Why not just make it lovely?
April 17, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Lamps on Bangor Pier. Love the attention to detail! Why not just make it lovely?
Wild cherry trees have got extrafloral nectaries to reward ants. Didn't know about this before. I was taking pics of the flowers and spotted this. Amazing. Not many ants about at the moment, but something to look out for later on in the year!
April 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Wild cherry trees have got extrafloral nectaries to reward ants. Didn't know about this before. I was taking pics of the flowers and spotted this. Amazing. Not many ants about at the moment, but something to look out for later on in the year!
Never seen before (unless you follow me on Fb), here is a Lake Malawi Protomelas with unusual square-ended oral jaws & lots of teeth (5-6 rows). Caught in shallow water near Ngara (Karonga District), we got quite a few from 2 different trawls, so it doesn't seem particularly rare in the area.
April 14, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Never seen before (unless you follow me on Fb), here is a Lake Malawi Protomelas with unusual square-ended oral jaws & lots of teeth (5-6 rows). Caught in shallow water near Ngara (Karonga District), we got quite a few from 2 different trawls, so it doesn't seem particularly rare in the area.
I first distinguished this species from a specimen at Cambridge from our 2016 survey. Nice to find some more specimens in stronger breeding colours and from the opposite end of the lake in the 2023 survey.
April 14, 2025 at 10:54 PM
I first distinguished this species from a specimen at Cambridge from our 2016 survey. Nice to find some more specimens in stronger breeding colours and from the opposite end of the lake in the 2023 survey.
Might have rediscovered Lethrinops macracanthus, a deep water Lake Malawi cichlid missing since the early 1990s.
April 14, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Might have rediscovered Lethrinops macracanthus, a deep water Lake Malawi cichlid missing since the early 1990s.
Baby axolotls. Bigger ones feeding on brine shrimp. Maybe some white ones?
April 14, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Baby axolotls. Bigger ones feeding on brine shrimp. Maybe some white ones?
Placidochromis nkhotakotae, described by Hanssens in 2004, has lots of gillrakers. I collected it in the 1990s but didn't get a fresh colour photo. We got one from Karonga in 2023, but actually a better one (sequenced) in 2017 from a pair trawl catch in the SW Arm. Clearly widely distributed.
April 12, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Placidochromis nkhotakotae, described by Hanssens in 2004, has lots of gillrakers. I collected it in the 1990s but didn't get a fresh colour photo. We got one from Karonga in 2023, but actually a better one (sequenced) in 2017 from a pair trawl catch in the SW Arm. Clearly widely distributed.
This deepwater species from Karonga is definitely an Alticorpus (highly expanded lateral line pits, big mental process), but isn't one of the usual ones. It might be A. profundicola, which was described in 1988 from specimens collected 10 years before, and has never been photographed fresh.
April 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM
This deepwater species from Karonga is definitely an Alticorpus (highly expanded lateral line pits, big mental process), but isn't one of the usual ones. It might be A. profundicola, which was described in 1988 from specimens collected 10 years before, and has never been photographed fresh.
Mylochromis sp. 'kande' was a new one for me in 2023. Originally identified by Konings from a breeding group at Kande Island, we got several nearby off Chintheche. Males have yellow chins and females an orange lower half of caudal.
April 12, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Mylochromis sp. 'kande' was a new one for me in 2023. Originally identified by Konings from a breeding group at Kande Island, we got several nearby off Chintheche. Males have yellow chins and females an orange lower half of caudal.
Placidochromis ecclesi was described by Hanssens in 2004 from 4 specimens trawled from 123-125m in Lukoma Bay, Tanzania in 1998. I think this is another one: first fresh photo! It's a tiny fish: both these specimens are only 58mm SL and look like mature males.
April 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Placidochromis ecclesi was described by Hanssens in 2004 from 4 specimens trawled from 123-125m in Lukoma Bay, Tanzania in 1998. I think this is another one: first fresh photo! It's a tiny fish: both these specimens are only 58mm SL and look like mature males.
A new species to me, from the 2023 trawl survey. I think we only got a single specimen of this from a deep water trawl from off Chintheche, on the sandy bay south of Nkhata Bay.
April 12, 2025 at 12:51 PM
A new species to me, from the 2023 trawl survey. I think we only got a single specimen of this from a deep water trawl from off Chintheche, on the sandy bay south of Nkhata Bay.
I collected this species on a trawl in Mozambique in 1999 (specimens still OK) and we got it again in 2023, when the Malawi Fisheries research trawler Ndunduma was again able to sample in Mozambique in a collaborative survey ! Never known outside Mozambique. Should have a sequence now.
April 12, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I collected this species on a trawl in Mozambique in 1999 (specimens still OK) and we got it again in 2023, when the Malawi Fisheries research trawler Ndunduma was again able to sample in Mozambique in a collaborative survey ! Never known outside Mozambique. Should have a sequence now.
I think these are basically all the same thing. Fairly non-descript shallow sand cichlid, except the faint double-bar markings. Nice to see a pattern emerging from something I first collected around 35 years ago. Hopefully we can get a sequence from the 2023 collection...
April 9, 2025 at 9:29 AM
I think these are basically all the same thing. Fairly non-descript shallow sand cichlid, except the faint double-bar markings. Nice to see a pattern emerging from something I first collected around 35 years ago. Hopefully we can get a sequence from the 2023 collection...
Egret at Aberffraw today
April 5, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Egret at Aberffraw today