''Protomelas dejunctus'', the fire blue hap, is a species of
cichlid
Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted th ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
It is the fifth largest fres ...
where it is only known from around
Chinyankwazi Island and
Chinyamwezi Island in the southern portion of the lake. It is known from depths of from . This species can reach a length of
SL.
Some authorities have revised this taxon's status to that of a subspecies of ''
Protomelas taeniolatus
''Protomelas taeniolatus'' (often sold under various trade names: ''Haplochromis'' red empress, red empress or spindle hap) is a Haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi in Eastern Africa. The fish is popular in the aquarium hobby due to th ...
''.
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References
dejunctus
Fish of Lake Malawi
Fish of Malawi
Fish described in 1993
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Cichlidae-stub