Melanochromis auratus  (Boulenger, 1897)

Golden mbuna
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Melanochromis auratus
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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; demersal; pH range: 7.0 - 8.5; dH range: 10 - 15.   Tropical; 22°C - 26°C (Ref. 1672); 12°S - 15°S

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5663)

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

Africa: Endemic to Lake Malawi. Occurs in the southern part of the lake from Jalo Reef, north of Nkhota Kota southward along the entire western coast down to Crocodile Rocks including all islands and reefs. Not known on the eastern shore (Ref. 5595).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in rocky habitats. Feeds from the biocover by nibbling and picking on the algae (Ref. 5595). Aquarium keeping: aggressive towards conspecifics; many females for one male; minimum aquarium size 100 cm (Ref. 51539).

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

Maréchal, C., 1991. Melanochromis. p. 258-265. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse, G.G. Teugels and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 4.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Least Concern (LC) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Aquarium: highly commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
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
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References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
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Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
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Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
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Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01235 (-0.16179 - 0.18649), b=3.00 (2.91 - 3.10), based on LWR estimates for this family-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  2.0   ±0.0 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm<1).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (13 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.