| Cichlidae (Cichlids), subfamily: Pseudocrenilabrinae |
| 12.6 cm TL (male/unsexed) |
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benthopelagic; freshwater; depth range - 78 m |
| Africa: Endemic to Lake Malawi. Occurs in Monkey Bay, Nankumba, Otter Point, Domwe and Thumbi West Islands and the north end of Lake Malawi. |
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Diagnosis: high number of gill-rakers on lower outer arch (32-38); long head, 35.6-40.6% of standard length, and correlated with this a more posterior position of dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins; long premaxillary pedicel, 33.0-38.4% head length (Ref. 55925).
Description: relatively deep-bodied; oral jaw teeth well embedded in oral mucosa; outer oral jaw teeth bicuspid in small specimens and a mixture of weakly bicuspid and unicuspid teeth in adults; proportion of unicuspid teeth clearly higher in upper jaw, especially in lateral parts; specimens >100mm SL with unicuspid outer dentition, with teeth in upper jaw more acute and finer than those in lower jaw; inner oral jaw teeth small, tricuspid in small specimens and a mixture of weakly tricuspid and unicuspid teeth in large specimens; 3-4 series of scales on cheek; lower pharyngeal bone slender and wide with long, slender, acute teeth, somewhat moveably attached, none of them enlarged and some slightly recurved; gill-rakers numerous, long and slender; 21-27 scales on upper part of lateral line, 10-18 on lower part; 5-6 scales between pectoral and pelvic fins (Ref. 55925).
Coloration: Live: arrangement of spots as in preserved specimens (Ref. 55925). Adult territorial males: body blue; ventral and ventro-lateral parts of head and body yellow; ventral parts probably darker in highly territorial males; individual body scales yellow anteriorly, blue on posterior edges, with the amount of yellow greater towards the ventral part of the body; pectoral fins yellowish transparent; pelvic fins black with white leading edge; dorsal and caudal fins greyish blue with yellow-bronze maculae and striae; dorsal fin with yellow lappets and white submarginal band; proximal part of anal fin dark, distal part yellowish with yellow ocelli (Ref. 55925). Females: silvery with brownish hue on dorsal and dorso-lateral parts of head and body; dorsal and caudal fins yellowish transparent with dark brown maculae and striae; some specimens with pale yellow dorsal fin lappets; anal fin whitish transparent with pale yellow spots; pectoral fins transparent with yellowish hue; pelvic fins transparent with whitish leading edge (Ref. 55925). Color pattern of immature and non-territorial males intermediate between female and adult male pattern, with an increasing intensity of blue on the body with increasing terrioriality (Ref. 55925). Preserved: general body color grey to brown-yellow; 3 spots in all specimens, but size of supra-pectoral and supra-anal spot may vary; suprapectoral spot on upper part of lateral line, the larger ones almost reaching the dorsal fin base; supra-anal spot situated between upper and lower part of lateral line; major part of caudal spot situated on the upper half of the caudal peduncle; all fins greyish to brownish yellow; dorsal and caudal fins bear dark maculae; very faint traces of vertical bars in juveniles only (Ref. 55925). |
| Inhabits rocky areas with a deposit of fine sediment (Ref. 267, 55925), but also found on soft-bottom habitats (Ref. 55925). Feeds on small invertebrates, mainly benthic copepods (Ref. 267, 55925) obtained by sucking up the fine sediment and passing it over the gill-rakers (Ref. 267). |
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Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 22 June 2018 Ref. (130435)
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| harmless |
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