Melanochromis johannii "Chilucha Reef"
Chilucha Reef — chee-LOO-chah REEF (approx.)
The fish
How this cichlid is built, and everything about how it lives, eats and breeds, is shared with the species — this page doesn't repeat it.
Read the full the base species account →Specific to Chilucha Reef
- Collection locality & coordinates
- Local coloration — best judged from the living-fish photo
- Kept as a single-provenance line, never crossed with other collection points
Care facts below are the species' — shared with the base species.
IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
EXEWCRENVUNTLC
CARESNOT LISTED
EWCRENVUNTnot on the priority list
Scientific size4.3 in11 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth10–59 ft3–18 m
DietAufwuchs grazer (algae, diatoms, plankton)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (polygynous)~10–30 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesStrongly reversed dichromatism: males dark blue-black with two electric-blue stripes; females and juveniles uniform yellow-orange.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →The Chilucha Reef population
Melanochromis johannii "Chilucha Reef" is the Chilucha Reef population of Melanochromis johannii, a geographic colour form from the Mozambique coast of Lake Malawi in the south-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Melanochromis johannii, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Chilucha Reef fish at malawi.si →
Sources
- malawi.si — Melanochromis johannii "Chilucha Reef"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Pseudotropheus johannii (Eccles 1973), species record
- FishBase — Pseudotropheus johannii (Bluegray mbuna)
- malawi.si — Pseudotropheus johannii 'Gome' (M.K. Oliver / Stuart Grant database; data and photos after Ad Konings)
- The ETYFish Project — Pseudocrenilabrinae: Pseudotropheus johannii etymology
- USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species — Melanochromis johannii (blue mbuna)