Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Melanochromis: Greek, melas, melanos = black + Greek, chromis = a fish, perhaps a perch (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical, preferred ?

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: endemic to Lake Malawi (Ref. 26078, 89864).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 8.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26078)

It is typically found at intermediate depths over the rock-sand interface, in crevices and caves at depths around 20 meters (Ref. 26078). It appears to be an opportunistic feeder, eating smaller fish and catfish eggs (Ref. 26078).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

Bowers, N. and J.R. Stauffer Jr., 1997. Eight new species of rock-dwelling cichlids of the genus Melanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi, Africa. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 8(1):49-70. (Ref. 26078)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 109396)

Vulnerable (VU) (D2)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries:

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More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
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Ecology
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Food items
Food consumption
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Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
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References
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Aquaculture profile
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Heritability
Diseases
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Speed
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Otoliths
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Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278): 4.3 ±0.67 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (12 of 100) .

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Melanochromis baliodigma Bowers & Stauffer, 1997