Protomelas dejunctus is known only from the isolated islands of Chinyankwazi and Chinyamwezi. This magnificent adult male was photographed underwater at Chinyamwezi by Mark P. Smith, who kindly permitted me to use the photo. (Read the publisher's blurb on Mark's new book, Lake Malawi Cichlids.) P. dejunctus is sold in the American aquarium trade as the "fire blue haplochromis."

Protomelas dejunctus is a shallow-water fish, recorded from depths of 2 to 10 meters (7-33 feet). In the wild it attains at least 13.8 cm (5.4 inches) standard length (without caudal fin). According to the account at FishBase, P. dejunctus has been "[o]bserved feeding on plankton in the water column and foraging on attached algae. Males establish breeding territories on rocks; one female captured had [y]oung in her mouth."
 

Last Update: 19 June 2001 Web Author: M. K. Oliver, Ph.D. Copyright © 1997-2021 by M. K. Oliver, Ph.D. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED