Photo: Paolo Neo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Deepwater hap
Placidochromis electra
14 cm
Adult size
300 L
Minimum volume
4
Minimum group
10 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Placidochromis
- Diet
- carnivore and herbivore
- Social life
- small group
In the wild
Overview
Described in 1979 by Warren E. Burgess, the “deepwater hap” or electra is a haplochromine from Lake Malawi. The adult male takes on electric-blue colouring barred with dark bands, hence its name; the female stays silvery.
Like many Lake Malawi cichlids, it belongs to a spectacular radiation: several hundred species that arose in less than two million years.
- Scientific name
- Placidochromis electra (Burgess, 1979)
- Classification
- Cichliformes › Cichlidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Endemic to Lake Malawi: Likoma Island and the north-eastern shores of the lake (Malawi, Mozambique)
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It is endemic to Lake Malawi, around Likoma Island, Mara Point and along the north-eastern shores of the lake.
It lives over sandy bottoms, generally below 7 m. It picks up invertebrates and algae stirred up from the sand by other fish digging in the bottom. The lake water is warm, hard and alkaline (pH 7.6 to 8.8).
Behaviour
Very gentle, it cannot bear the bustle of a mbuna community; it lives well with Aulonocara, Copadichromis and other peaceful lake species. Also peaceful with its own kind, it becomes slightly territorial when breeding; keep several females per male.
It is a maternal mouthbrooder: the female keeps the eggs, then the fry, in her mouth for several weeks. It accepts most foods, with a plant component (spirulina).
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth