Melanochromis johannii

Melanochromis johannii
Melanochromis johanni (male)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Cichlidae
Subfamily: Pseudocrenilabrinae
Genus: Melanochromis
Species: M. johannii
Binomial name
Melanochromis johannii
(Eccles, 1973)[2]

The bluegray mbuna (Melanochromis johannii or Pseudotropheus johannii) is a freshwater fish from the family Cichlidae.[3]

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to littoral zones on the east, Mozambique coastline of Lake Malawi, south of Chuanga.[3][4] The species is popular in the fishkeeping hobby and is frequently kept in cichlid aquariums.[5][6] In the aquarium trade, the fish is known as the bluegray mbuna or the electric blue johanni.[3][6]

Description

The species is highly sexually dimorphic. Females and juveniles are yellow. The coloration of males is a combination of blue to purple and black, with one blue line running across the forehead, over the top of the eye and along the body above the mid-line, a second line appears below the mid-line.[7]

In the aquarium

This fish is an mbuna cichlid that lives in alkaline water with the PH of 7 to 9. It is a tropical fish and lives in temperatures from 22 to 28 °C (72 to 82 °F). The hardness of the water range from 10-20. They are very aggressive and is only kept with other similarly aggressive African cichlids, with one male to two or more females. It is not kept more than one male in the same tank, unless it is a large tank with lots of hiding places.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kasembe, J. 2006. Melanochromis johannii. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 April 2013.
  2. ↑ Eccles DH (1973) Two new species of cichlid fishes from Lake Malawi (formerly known as Lake Nyasa). Arnoldia (Rhod.) 1-7
  3. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Pseudotropheus johannii" in FishBase. April 2014 version.
  4. ↑ Konings A (2001) Malaŵi cichlids in their natural habitat 3rd Edn. Cichlid Press. USA. ISBN 0-9668255-3-5
  5. ↑ Konings A (1997) Back to nature guide to Laek Malawi cichlids Druckhaus Beltz, Germany. ISBN 3-9805605-3-8
  6. 1 2 Riehl, Rüdiger. Editor.; Baensch, HA (1996). Aquarium Atlas (5th ed.). Germany: Tetra Press. ISBN 3-88244-050-3.
  7. ↑ Mills, Dick (1993). Aquarium Fish. London136: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-56458-294-9.


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