Pseudotropheus saulosi

Pseudotropheus saulosi is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa where it lives in areas with rocky substrates.[2] It is classified as a dwarf-mbuna and was first described by Ad Konings in 1990 who gave it the specific name saulosi in honour of Saulos Mwale who caught over 3,000 specimens in a single day on the expedition which collected the type.[3] It comes from an area of the lake called Taiwan Reef, and from nowhere else.[1] This fish can also be found in the aquarium trade.[4]

Pseudotropheus saulosi
male (blue and black) and female (yellow)

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Pseudotropheus
Species:
P. saulosi
Binomial name
Pseudotropheus saulosi
Konings, 1990
Synonyms

Chindongo saulosi (Konings, 1990)

This species can reach a length of 8.6 cm (3.4 in) TL.[2] The fish are born yellow but as they reach maturity males turn blue with several vertical black bars. Less dominant males are paler blue and it is possible for some younger males to remain mixed in with the females, in typical yellow female dress.[4] When the dominant male leaves a certain group, one of these incognito males may color up and become dominant.

Pseudotropheus saulosi is a maternal mouthbrooder. The female holds the eggs in her mouth until the fry are able to swim. This normally takes 13–18 days.[4] The fish is Critically Endangered in the wild,[1] and efforts are currently under way to re-stock Taiwan Reef with captive bred individuals.[5]

See also

References
  1. Konings, A. (2018). "Chindongo saulosi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T61175A47238867. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T61175A47238867.en.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2017). "Pseudotropheus saulosi" in FishBase. April 2017 version.
  3. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 July 2018). "Order CICHLIFORMES: Family CICHLIDAE: Subfamily PSEUDOCRENILABRINAE (a-g)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  4. Barber, P: Pseudotropheus saulosi. CichlidForum. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  5. Juan Miguel Artigas Azas (14 November 2014). "Editorial Reintroduction efforts for Pseudotropheus saulosi". The Cichlid Room Companion. Juan Miguel Artigas Azas. Retrieved 13 January 2019.


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