Protomelas similis "Senga Bay"
Protomelas similis (Chiofu, Kambiri Point, Likoma Island, Masinje, Mbamba Bay, Ngkuyo Island, Senga Bay, Thumbi West Island)
Senga Bay — SEHN-gah BAY (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 similis account →Specific to Senga Bay
- 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 similis.
The Senga Bay population
Protomelas similis "Senga Bay" is the Senga Bay population of Protomelas similis, 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 similis, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Senga Bay fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Protomelas similis is a silver, stripe-flanked haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi and its satellite Lake Malombe, where it makes a living few of its rock-loving relatives bother with: it lives among aquatic weed. Where most Malawi haplochromines graze biofilm off bare stone, a male Protomelas similis clears a small bare circle in a bed of Vallisneria and plucks algae directly from the plant leaves, bolting back into the foliage at the first sign of trouble. It is a modest, watchful fish rather than a showpiece, and that quiet life among the weeds is exactly what has kept it common while heavier-fished shorelines have suffered.
Full Protomelas similis account →Sources
- malawi.si — Protomelas similis "Senga Bay"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Protomelas similis (Regan 1922)
- FishBase — Protomelas similis (Regan, 1922)
- ITIS — Protomelas similis report
- GBIF — Protomelas similis occurrence records
- Regan, C.T. 1922. The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Nyassa. Proc. Zool. Soc. London (original description; CRC reference)
- IUCN Red List — Protomelas similis "Senga Bay"