Paretroplus polyactis explained

Paretroplus polyactis is a vulnerable species of cichlid found widely in fresh and brackish water in coastal regions and associated river basins in eastern Madagascar.^[1] It is the only Paretroplus found in the southern half of Madagascar,^[1] and one of only two found in eastern drainages (the other is the far more restricted P. loisellei).^[2] P. polyactis is threatened by habitat loss and overfishing. This relatively deep-bodied Paretroplus reaches 30cm (10inches) in length.^[3] It shares a large part of its range with a cichlid from another genus, Ptychochromis grandidieri.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Sparks, J. S. (2008). Phylogeny of the Cichlid Subfamily Etroplinae and Taxonomic Revision of the Malagasy Cichlid Genus Paretroplus (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History Number 314 :1-151
2. Sparks, J. S. and Schelly, R. C. (2011). A new species of Paretroplus (Teleostei: Cichlidae: Etroplinae) from northeastern Madagascar, with a phylogeny and revised diagnosis for the P. damii clade. Zootaxa 2768: 55–68.
3. Guinane, S. (2000). The Madagascan Cichlid Genus Paretroplus (Bleeker, 1865). Accessed 15 July 2011