Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Mchenga: Name from Chichewa, the indigenous language of Malawi; mchenga (sand), was chosen to indicate the type of bowers constructed by the members of this genus. Gender is feminine..

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; depth range 10 - 15 m (Ref. 58018). Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Lake Malawi.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27597)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 16 - 17; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 12; Anal soft rays: 9. Diagnosis: yellow ocelli on anal fin of females and non-breeding males; juveniles and females with hyaline fins; breeding male without black markings in caudal fin (Ref. 57549). 10-16 gill rakers on first ceratobranchial (Ref. 57549), 4-5 on epibranchial (Ref. 27597). Teeth in outer rows on dentary and premaxilla of mature males small and bicuspid (Ref. 57549).

Forages in the water column, feeding mainly on zooplankton (Ref. 27597).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Male builds cone-shaped bowers in breeding arenas on the rock/sand interface at water depths of 15-25 m.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

Stauffer, J.R. Jr., T.J. LoVullo and K.R. McKaye, 1993. Three new sand-dwelling cichlids from Lake Malawi, Africa, with a discussion of the status of the genus Copadichormis (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Copeia 1993(4):1017-1027. (Ref. 27597)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 20 June 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology

Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos

Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths

Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
Collaborators

Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures

References
References

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01514 (0.00700 - 0.03275), b=2.97 (2.80 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.45 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Back to Search

Random Species

Mchenga thinos (Stauffer, LoVullo & McKaye, 1993)