page_title: Protomelas kirkii
section_title: Systematics
hierarchical_section_title: Protomelas kirkii / Systematics
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Protomelas kirkii
context_page_description: Protomelas kirkii is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi where it is most commonly found in areas vegetated with Vallisneria. This species can reach a length of 18 centimetres TL. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.
context_section_description: The species was described as Chromis kirkii in 1894 by Albert Günther at the Natural History Museum in London, from specimens sent by Sir Harry Johnston, then colonial governor of British Central Africa. The reason for the species name is not given, but Günther mentions receiving a previous set of zoological specimens from Sir John Kirk, who accompanied David Livingstone on some of his explorations of the area, so the specific name was a dedication to Kirk. The genus Chromis is now used for marine fishes of the family Pomacentridae, and C. kirkii was moved around various genera, most notably residing in the genus Haplochromis from the 1920s to 1980s. In 1989, David Eccles and Ethelwynn Trewavas designated C. kirkii as the type species for their new genus Protomelas, which then contained some 14 endemic Lake Malawi cichlid fish species united by a shared body pattern (in females and immatures) comprising both horizontal and vertical dark markings. It has been informally proposed that the genus Eclectochromis should be combined with Protomelas.
caption: Protomelas kirkii: illustration from the Catalogue of the fresh-water fishes of Africa in the British Museum, 1915 as Tilapia kirkii
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