Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan" "Higga Reef"

About the species

Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan" is an undescribed haplochromine cichlid confined, so far as is documented, to the isolated rock outcrop known as Taiwan Reef in the north of Lake Malawi. Its trade name places it in the loose "Steveni" group of Protomelas — a cluster of undescribed and formerly-misidentified forms once traded under the old name Haplochromis steveni — though field observation suggests it is anatomically closer to Protomelas taeniolatus. Taiwan Reef is thought to be one of the lake's few permanently isolated rocky habitats, a refuge that may have kept old, distinct lineages cut off from their relatives even through past low-water periods, and this population's isolation and unusual depth range are treated as evidence of long-standing, in-place divergence. No authority, year, FishBase number, or Red List status should be attached to it.