Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Protomelas taeniolatus

Protomelas taeniolatus "Thumbi West Island"

Thumbi West Island — TOOM-bee WEST EYE-land (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 Thumbi West Island

  • 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.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7.5 in19 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth0–33 ft0–10 m
DietCombs aufwuchs (algae & micro-invertebrates) from rock
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~40–50 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesStrong: dominant males spectacular — head emerald to turquoise, flanks locality red, orange or blue, with extended fins; females and juveniles plain silvery-grey with dark lateral stripes.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Thumbi West Island population

Protomelas taeniolatus "Thumbi West Island" is the Thumbi West Island 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 Thumbi West Island 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

  1. malawi.si — Protomelas taeniolatus "Thumbi West Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Protomelas taeniolatus (species entry)
  3. FishBase — Protomelas taeniolatus (Spindle hap) summary
  4. GBIF — Protomelas taeniolatus occurrence and taxonomy
  5. Konings, A. — Exploring Lake Malawi: Taiwan Reef (Cichlid Press) — Protomelas taeniolatus-complex & 'Steveni Taiwan'
  6. Konings, A. — Cichlids Yearbook vol. 2 (Cichlid Press) — Protomelas taeniolatus-complex & colour forms