Taxonomy & naming
Ptychochromis sp. "Northern Red Fin" is a trade label for an undescribed Malagasy cichlid. Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2007) describes it as a recent import, after 2000 by his belief, and notes that he found virtually no references to it online or in The Endemic Cichlids of Madagascar. The genus Ptychochromis was erected by Steindachner in 1880. The form is undescribed, so it has no valid name, authority or year.
Morphology
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2007) says the fish is high-bodied like other Ptychochromis, and that variable colour makes identification hard. Males are generally silver with a faint black stripe along the middle of the body and a spot on the gill plate. Depending on the light, a faint bronze sheen may show. Females are darker overall, especially when breeding. Other Ptychochromis reach 9–10 in, and he expects this form to be similar; he gives no measured adult size.
Habitat
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2007) writes only that Ptychochromis species are found in river drainages in Madagascar. No locality is recorded for this form.
Feeding
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2007) calls the fish omnivorous and recommends a balance of protein and vegetable foods. He fed Dainichi Veggie Deluxe, HBH Soft & Moist Veggie, Dainichi ColorFX and HBH Graze flakes.
Mating
Not documented for this form.
Breeding
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2007) found Malagasy cichlids a challenge to breed and says they show poor parental behaviour and breed only infrequently. He raised five 1.5 in juveniles in a 90 US gal tank with sand and rockwork. When the male reached 4 in, the fish spawned inside a terracotta pot, and the eggs were gone the next day. Almost a year later the pair dug to the tank bottom and laid about 300 eggs on a 4 in square of red clay tile. Because of the genus's poor parental care, he pulled the eggs and hatched them artificially. Acriflavine Plus worked well as an antifungal, where Methylene Blue had done poorly with earlier Malagasy eggs. The fry were free-swimming almost ten days after spawning. They were tiny and almost black, about the size of Apistogramma fry, and gathered at the water surface. He fed baby brine shrimp and a finely powdered fry food. He found the fry poor hunters and slow growers.
In the aquarium
Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2007) calls the fish easy to keep. His fish did well in ordinary Chicago water (pH 7.4, 300 ppm hardness) at 79 °F, with weekly water changes of 50%. It is not aggressive and should not share a tank with aggressive Central American cichlids. When threatened, it simply shows its side to the aggressor, a display that New World and other Old World cichlids ignore, and he says they will attack. It is not bred commercially. Juveniles were available from hobbyists for $8 to $10.
Conservation
An undescribed form has no IUCN category, and none is claimed here. Rick Borstein (GCCA, 2007) writes that deforestation and agriculture have taken a heavy toll on Madagascar's native cichlids, many of which are extinct or threatened. That is a statement about the Malagasy cichlids as a group, not an assessment of this form.