Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) >
Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Petrotilapia: Latin,petra = stone + Bechuana, African native thiape = fish (Ref. 45335); flaviventris: The name flaviventris, from the Latin words flavus, meaning yellow, and venter, meaning the underside or belly, referring to the yellow color on the ventral side of this species; a noun in apposition (Ref. 87181).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; pelagic. Tropical; 12°S - 13°S, 34°E - 35°E
Africa: Lake Malawi in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania (Ref. 87181).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.1 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 87181)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 17 - 19; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7 - 8. Diagnosis: Absence of a dark submarginal band in the dorsal fin distinguishes Petrotilapia flaviventris from males of P. microgalana, P. genalutea, P. nigra, P. chrysos, P. mumboensis, and P. pyroscelos, which have such a band (Ref. 87181). Adult males of P. flaviventris are yellow on ventral and mid flank with scales outlined in blue; the dorsal one-third is blue to gray with yellow and orange highlights; cheeks and throat are yellow to orange; males of P. tridentiger are light blue with dark blue bars; while those of P. xanthos are yellow; adult male, and female, P. palingnathos have distinctly retrognathous jaws and can thus be distinguished from those of P. flaviventris (Ref. 87181). Females of P. flaviventris are yellow brown with interrupted black horizontal stripes and with a background colouration fading to dark brown dorsally, which distinguishes them from those of P. tridentiger, which are brown, and from P. chrysos and P. microgalana, which are golden yellow; females of P. flaviventris are further distinguished from those of P. xanthos, which are light brown (Ref. 87181).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Lundeba, M., J.R. Stauffer Jr. and A. F. Konings, 2011. Five new species of the genus Petrotilapia (Teleostei: Cichlidae), from Lake Malawi, Africa. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 22(2):149-168. (Ref. 87181)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5010 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.4 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).