Tilapia sparrmanii

Tilapia sparrmanii, a widespread cichlid
found in waters surrounding Lake Malawi; color painting from Jubb (1967),
used by permission
of A. A. Balkema Publishers

I am not convinced that Tilapia sparrmanii, shown above and below, ever occurs in Lake Malawi proper. Nevertheless, it has repeatedly been listed from Lake Malawi, first by Bell-Cross (1976), then by Bell-Cross & Minshull (1988), and most recently by Marshall (2011). These authorities provided no supporting details or literature citation. Furthermore, T. sparrmanii (the type species of the genus Tilapia) is also listed without comment from Lake Malawi by FishBase (see the species account of it there). However, the occurrence of this cichlid in Lake Malawi seems highly doubtful and needs to be substantiated by a museum specimen.
Both the color painting above and the black and white illustration below, rendered by Hilda M. Jubb, are from Jubb (1967) and are reproduced here with the kind permission of Mr. A. T. Balkema of A. A. Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam.

The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi, Africa: MalawiCichlids.com