Melanochromis wochepa : fisheries

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Melanochromis wochepa Konings-Dudin, Konings & Stauffer, 2009

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Melanochromis: Greek, melas, melanos = black + Greek, chromis = a fish, perhaps a perch (Ref. 45335);  wochepa: The specific epithet, a noun in apposition, is derived from Chinyanja, the local language. around the lake, and means “small” referring to the small adult size of this species..

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

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical; 13°S - 14°S, 34°E - 35°E

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

Africa: endemic to lake Malawi (Ref. 80784, 89864)

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 6.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 80784)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Melanochromis wochepa is distinguished from its congeners, except M. auratus, M. dialeptos, and M. mossambiquensis, by a steeper-angled vomer (72–80° vs. 35–53°). It is distinguished from M. auratus, M. dialeptos, and M. mossambiquensis by the male coloration pattern which is blue without white stripes and which is brown/black with yellow and pale-blue stripes in males of the other species. Female M. wochepa are distinguished from M. auratus by a submarginal dorsal band that is wider than the mid-lateral and the dorsolateral stripe. The abdominal yellow stripes in female M. wochepa are thin and never cover the entire lower abdomen, while those in female M. auratus usually cover the entire lower half of the body. M. wochepa is further distinguished from M. dialeptos by a longer head (30.2–33.3 vs. 29.8–31.4 % SL), a deeper body (30.2–34.7 vs. 26.8–31.8 % SL), by a larger distance between the posterior dorsal and pelvic fin (53.3–59.8 % vs. 49.8–55.8 % SL), by a longer pectoral fin (22.8–33.0 % vs. 19.5–24.3 % SL), and by more dorsal-fin rays(7–10 (mode 9) vs. 7–9 (mode 7)). It is further distinguished from M. mossambiquensis by a deeper body as expressed in a larger distance between the origins of the dorsal and anal fins (49.6–54.5 % vs. 47.1–50.8 % SL) and a larger distance between the origins of the dorsal and pelvic fins (30.1–36.4 % vs. 27.6–33.4 % SL), and by a shorter lower jaw (26.7–32.5 % vs. 29.0–41.5 % HL).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in shallow, rocky habitat; mostly seen solitary; not uncommon; males do not defend territory, but displays between males are frequent and short of duration; feeds from aufwuchs on rocks from which it picks algal strands and diatoms (Ref. 80784).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

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

Konings-Dudin, G, A.F. Konings and J.R. Stauffer Jr., 2009. Descriptions of three new species of Melanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) and a redescription of M. vermivorus. Zootaxa 2076:37-59. (Ref. 80784)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Near Threatened (NT) (B2a); Date assessed: 22 June 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries:
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Age/Size
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [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):  3.3   ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).