Diplotaxodon is a small genus of seven formally described, as well as a number of undescribed, deep-water species of cichlid fish endemic to Lake Malawi in east Africa.

In common with other offshore-living cichlid fishes, these have evolved to have fewer, but larger offspring, perhaps to increase their chances of surviving predation and starvation in the open water habitats.

Unlike some other offshore cichlid fish, none of the Diplotaxodon species are known to use inshore nursery areas for their young, and their entire life-cycle seems to be completed in the open waters of the lake.

Molecular genetic studies suggest that Diplotaxodon species are all closely related and are ancestral to the more benthic-feeding Pallidochromis tokolosh, which together comprise a monophyletic group or clade which has evolved within Lake Malawi.

This lack of geographic barriers in the present lake has made scientists consider that their species might have diverged either by the controversial mechanism of sympatric speciation.