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
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)
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).
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).
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)
Threat to humans
Aquarium: highly commercial
CollaboratorsPicturesStamps, CoinsSoundsCiguateraSpeedSwim. typeGill areaOtolithsBrainsVision
Estimates of some properties based on empirical models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 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) .