Placidochromis sp. ‘jalo’

Sergeant Posts : 113 Location : Austex

Placidochromis sp. ‘jalo’

As I have been making my slow progression from mbuna to haps and peacocks, two things have really impressed me. Both of those impact items are dramatically represented by this fish. One is the size, the other is the behavior. Rare Dave was able to procure a WC trio for me. From the moment I lifted the bag from the box he was kind enough to personally deliver, I realized the male was a BIG fish. I’m guessing at least 7” long with a substantial body depth and width. The two females are much smaller than the male. I’d put them in the 3.5-4” range. As none of the fish have grown appreciably in the 6 months or so I’ve had them, I’m assuming that these are full-grown adults. They share a minimally rocked, sandy bottomed 75 gallon tank with a group of Aulonocara sp. ‘chitande type north’. The male Placidochromis sp ‘jalo’ is clearly the largest and the dominant fish in the tank. However, I have never seen anything but the very mildest of aggressive behaviors from him. While not noted as being continuously territorial in the wild, this male has claimed one corner of the tank and has built a most curious cave. The cave consists of a gap between two smallish river rocks. The male jalo has removed all the sand from the gap, building sloping sand piles at the entrance and the exit. When disturbed, the male will head immediately for his hideout. The really amusing thing about this hideout is it is so small that only about 2/3’s of his body can fit into it, almost like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Or for those of you who have played peek-a-boo with small children, it’s like the child covering their eyes and assuming that since they can’t see you-you can’t see them! You can see his tail and his entire back end jutting out off the cave, but as long as his head is covered he seems to think that everything is good. Here he is about to dart into his little safety cocoon:

Placidochromis sp. ‘jalo’ Dsc1557

The male jalo spends most of his time in the vicinity of his sanctuary, but will do occasional long, lazy patrols around the tank. The other fish will casually move out of his way as he cruises, but there are no attacks and I’ve never seen anything like lip-locking. In fact, I’ve yet to see so much as a nipped fin from either inter-species male-on-male aggression or from intra-species breeding behavior. When females appear to be receptive, he will shimmy, flash and do some chasing. The smaller females are able to use the rock gaps to easily outmaneuver the large male until they are ready. After an initial settling in period, both females have spawned roughly every 7-8 weeks. Each female produces about 35-40 fry. An interesting note is that the fry from these fish are much smaller than what I see out of a typical mbuna. It appears they are somewhat more fragile as well. I’ve had pretty consistent survival rates of 99+% from mbuna fry, but regularly seem to lose 3 or 4 from each batch from the jalos. The females school with the female aulonocara at times but, usually stay relatively close to the sand which they pick at and sift through searching for edibles. I highly recommend some type of small sinking pellet be included in their diet. The females are a soft buttery yellow with nice highlights on their fins. To me, their eyes appear to be relatively large for their body size. The male’s pattern incorporates blues, greens, yellows and a touch of black. Without a remote flash, this is one of those fish that is very hard to get a ‘good’ picture of. The on-board flash seems to wash out his colors.

Here are a couple of attempts I made while a pair were in the early stages of their mating behavior.
Placidochromis sp. ‘jalo’ Dsc1275

P. sp. ‘jalo’ is thought to be endemic to Jalo Reef. At least, that is the only location where they have been noted so far. There is very little hard data available in any books or websites I’ve seen so far. Even their most basic identification may be only temporary; Ad Konings notes that this species is included in the Placidochromis genus “because there is at present no better alternative…..even though they are not closely related to the type species of the genus, P. longimanus.” {1} . With the lack of hard data to put on the table here, all I can add is that is that if you are interested in a peaceful hap with stunning males and reasonably attractive females to add with peacocks or other haps---give the jalos a shot. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed when you see that metallic green face greet you in the morning!

{1} MALAWI CICHLIDS in their natural habitat, 4th Ed.
Ad Konings, Cichlid Press, 2007, (pg. 157)