Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Protomelas ornatus

Protomelas ornatus "Chidunga Rocks"

Chidunga Rocks — chee-DOON-gah ROKS (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 Protomelas ornatus account →

Specific to Chidunga Rocks

  • 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 Protomelas ornatus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size9.8 in25 cm total length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.4–8.4alkaline
Depth3–33 ft1–10 m
DietCrevice predator — invertebrates and juvenile cichlids
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~30–60 eggs (genus-typical; species count undocumented — FLAGGED as habitat-typical inference from Konings/Protomelas congeners)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales reach ~25 cm TL; females ~17 cm TL. Breeding males show intensified yellow-and-dark coloration; females and juveniles display a blotched pattern on upper flanks.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chidunga Rocks population

Protomelas ornatus "Chidunga Rocks" is the Chidunga Rocks population of Protomelas ornatus, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Protomelas ornatus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Chidunga Rocks fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Protomelas ornatus is a large, thick-lipped haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, found in shallow intermediate habitats — the rubble-and-sand transition zones — around virtually every shore of the lake. Its most distinctive feature is a set of fleshy, laterally compressed lips that function as a living gasket: the fish presses them over crevices in the rock, seals the gap, and sucks out whatever is hiding inside. Males grow to roughly 25 cm total length and, in breeding dress, are boldly patterned with contrasting yellow and dark markings that vary noticeably across geography.

Full Protomelas ornatus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Protomelas ornatus "Chidunga Rocks"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Haplochromis ornatus Regan 1922 (species record, CoF spid=37894)
  3. FishBase — Eclectochromis ornatus (Regan, 1922) summary page
  4. Konings, A. — Exploring Lake Malawi: Thumbi West Island (Cichlid Room Companion / Cichlid Press)
  5. malawi.si — Protomelas ornatus 'Masinje' (species data, localities, biotope, behaviour)
  6. Chavula et al. 2023 — Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa basin: Status, challenges, and research needs (J. Great Lakes Res. 49(6):102241)