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; depth range 2 - 4 m (Ref. 58018). Tropical, preferred ?
Africa: endemic to Lake Malawi (Ref. 26078, 89864).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 8.7 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26078)
Found in shallow intermediate zone. Feeds in packs, primarily on the scales of other fishes (Ref. 26078).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
More information
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningFecundityEggsEgg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 4.4 ±0.80 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) .