Mchenga thinos

Mchenga thinos (Stauffer, LoVullo & McKaye, 1993)

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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: 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 Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Lake Malawi.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  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).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

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

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | 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: Version 2025-2)

  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 |

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AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |