| Family: |
Cichlidae (Cichlids), subfamily: Pseudocrenilabrinae |
| Max. size: |
9.8 cm SL (male/unsexed) |
| Environment: |
benthopelagic; freshwater; depth range - 50 m |
| Distribution: |
Africa: endemic to Lake Malawi, only known from Nkhata Bay in Malawi (Ref. 55898). |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9. Diagnosis: snout length 37.2 % head length; lower jaw length 33.8 % head length; outer oral teeth mixed unicuspid with some unequally bicuspid or shouldered bicuspid teeth; premaxillary pedicel length 27.6 % head length; cheek depth 26.5 % head length; interorbital width 24.2 % head length; lower pharyngeal teeth enlarged and molariform; body depth 37.8 %SL (Ref. 55898).
Description: relatively heavy-built; dorsal body profile more strongly convex than ventral body profile; dorsal head profile almost straight, slightly concave between eyes; premaxillary pedicel prominent; jaws heavy; gape inclined at about 15-20° to horizontal; maxilla extending to vertical at anterior margin of eye; outer oral teeth large and robust, bicuspid or shouldered bicuspid anteriorly, quickly becoming unicuspid posteriorly; inner oral teeth much smaller than outer teeth, mixed tricuspid and unicuspid, slender; 3 series of scales on cheek; eye relatively small; upper margin of eye not touching dorsal head profile; lower pharyngeal jaw very robust with wide toothed area; central posterior teeth of lower pharyngeal jaw enlarged and molariform; gill-rakers on lower limb very short, most of them branched with 3 tips; upper gill-rakers somewhat longer, with a single tip (Ref. 55898).
Coloration: Preserved: Immature male: body brownish yellow; 7 faint vertical bars below dorsal fin; dorsal fin pale greyish with darker grey tips; soft dorsal with oblique grey bands; caudal fin with grey spots on inter-radial membranes; anal and ventral fins with darker leading edge (Ref. 55898). |
| Biology: |
|
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Data deficient (DD); Date assessed: 19 June 2018 Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
| Country info: |
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