Pseudotropheus johannii
Pseudotropheus johannii or the bluegray mbuna is an African freshwater fish from the family Cichlidae.[2][3]
| Pseudotropheus johannii | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cichliformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Genus: | Pseudotropheus |
| Species: | P. johannii |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudotropheus johannii Eccles, 1973 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Melanochromis johannii (Eccles, 1973) | |
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]
Name
The specific name of this fish is derived from the German name Johan, John in English, and honours John Johns who was a collector of fish from Lake Malawi for the aquarium trade.[8]
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 are 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 many hiding places.
References
- Konings, A. (2018). "Pseudotropheus johannii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T61119A47235259. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T61119A47235259.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- Konings, A.F. (2016). Malaŵi Cichlids in their natural habitat (5 ed.). Cichlid Press. p. 447. ISBN 978-1-932892-23-9.
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2014). "Pseudotropheus johannii" in FishBase. April 2014 version.
- Konings A (2001) Malaŵi cichlids in their natural habitat 3rd Edn. Cichlid Press. USA. ISBN 0-9668255-3-5
- Konings A (1997) Back to nature guide to Lake Malawi cichlids Druckhaus Beltz, Germany. ISBN 3-9805605-3-8
- Riehl, Rüdiger. Editor.; Baensch, HA (1996). Aquarium Atlas (5th ed.). Germany: Tetra Press. ISBN 978-3-88244-050-8.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - Mills, Dick (1993). Aquarium Fish. London136: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-56458-294-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (25 September 2018). "Order CICHLIFORMES: Family CICHLIDAE: Subfamily PSEUDOCRENILABRINAE (p-y)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 13 January 2019.