Protomelas taeniolatus "Masasa Reef"Spindle hap
Protomelas taeniolatus (Boadzulu Island, Cape Kaiser, Charo, Chewere, Chilumba, Chimwalani Reef, Chitande Island, Chitedze Rock, Fuawe Island, Gome, Hora Mhango, Kambiri Point, Katale Island, Kirondo, Lions Cove, Lupingu, Luwala Reef, Magunga, Makokola Reef, Makonde, Maleri Island, Masasa Reef, Mazinzi Reef, Mbenji Island, Mdowa, Mitande Reef (Rocks), Mphanga Rocks, Mumbo Island, Nakantenga Island, Namalenje Island, Nkanda, Nkhata Bay, Nkhomo Reef, Senga Point, Thumbi West Island, Zimbawe Rock)
Masasa Reef — mah-SAH-sah 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 Protomelas taeniolatus account →Specific to Masasa 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 Protomelas taeniolatus.
The Masasa Reef population
Protomelas taeniolatus "Masasa Reef" is the Masasa Reef population of Protomelas taeniolatus, 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 taeniolatus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Masasa Reef fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Protomelas taeniolatus is a haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, best known to aquarists by its trade name, the "Red Empress." In the wild it is an unassuming algae-grazer of the shallow rocky shoreline, but in courting dress a dominant male turns the head an electric emerald-blue and the flanks a furnace red — a combination so striking that the fish has been a hobby staple for decades. It is one of several geographically variable forms in a genus where the line between "colour morph" and "species" is still being argued.
Full Protomelas taeniolatus account →Sources
- malawi.si — Protomelas taeniolatus "Masasa Reef"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Protomelas taeniolatus (species entry)
- FishBase — Protomelas taeniolatus (Spindle hap) summary
- GBIF — Protomelas taeniolatus occurrence and taxonomy
- Konings, A. — Exploring Lake Malawi: Taiwan Reef (Cichlid Press) — Protomelas taeniolatus-complex & 'Steveni Taiwan'
- Konings, A. — Cichlids Yearbook vol. 2 (Cichlid Press) — Protomelas taeniolatus-complex & colour forms
- IUCN Red List — Protomelas taeniolatus "Masasa Reef"