Orange Chromide

The orange chromide is a small cichlid of around 8 cm, one of the few Asian members of a family whose centre of gravity lies in Africa and South America. Its oval, laterally compressed body carries a yellow to deep orange livery flecked with iridescent spots, and a dark blotch on the flank — hence the epithet maculatus. Selectively bred strains have largely displaced wild fish in the trade. Endemic to southern peninsular India and Sri Lanka, it inhabits estuaries, coastal lagoons and the lower reaches of rivers. Euryhaline, it moves freely between fresh and brackish water as the tides turn. It shares these waters with the green chromide, picking parasites from its flanks while also eating its eggs, and feeds on zooplankton, algae and small prey. In the aquarium it is above all a social fish: eight individuals is the minimum, or weaker specimens become the target of dominant ones. It needs hard, alkaline water, a footprint of at least 120 × 60 cm and a few schooling dithers to settle it. Prepared foods are accepted but live or frozen items are clearly preferred. A biparental substrate spawner, it breeds readily; the fry graze on their parents' mucus, a step essential to their survival. Peaceful otherwise, it turns territorial when spawning.