Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes
(Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae
(Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Maylandia: In honour of Hans J. Mayland, German ictiologist (Ref. 45335); mossambica: The specific epithet, mossambicus, refers to the area where the species is native; an adjective (Ref. 86409).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical; 13°S - 14°S, 34°E - 35°E
Africa: Lake Malawi in Mozambique (Ref. 86490).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 8.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 86409)
Morphology | Morphometrics
(total): 16 - 18;
soft rays: 7 - 9. Diagnosis: A moderately-sloped head and bicuspid teeth in the outer row of the jaws place this species in Maylandia (Ref. 86409). Male M. mossambica from Chiloelo are distinguished from those of all other members of Maylandia by the absence of a black submarginal band in the dorsal and by black streaks in the caudal and in the posterior portion of the dorsal fin; male M. mossambica from Chinuni are distinguished from those of all other Maylandia by the absence of a black submarginal band in the dorsal and by a narrow black submarginal band in the anal fin; male M. mossambica from Lumessi are distinguished from all other Maylandia, except M. aurora, M. chrysomallos, and M. xanthos by the absence of a black submarginal band in the dorsal, a yellow ventral half of the head, breast, and dorsal fin, and a light-blue nape; male M. mossambica from Lumessi population differ from those of M. chrysomallos by a yellow dorsal fin which is light-blue in the latter (Ref. 86409). Maylandia mossambica differs from M. aurora by more vertical bars below the dorsal, 7–9 vs. 6, and from M. xanthos by a shorter lower jaw, 27.9–33.8% of head length vs. 34.6–36.7% (Ref. 86409). Based on the colour pattern, female M. mossambica cannot reliably be distinguished from those of most other members of the Aurora group but have 7 or 8 bars below the dorsal fin vs. 6 bars in M. aurora (Ref. 86409).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Ciccotto, P.J., A. Konings and J.R. Stauffer Jr., 2011. Descriptions of five new species in the genus Metriaclima (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malaŵi, Africa. Zootaxa 2738:1-25. (Ref. 86409)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 126983)
Threat to humans
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningSpawning aggregationFecundityEggsEgg development
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingNutrientsMass conversion
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01514 (0.00700 - 0.03275), b=2.97 (2.80 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic level (Ref. 69278
): 2.3 ±0.1 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).