Paretroplus loisellei is a vulnerable

Vulnerable species

On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...

 species of cichlid

Cichlid

Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...

 fish from the Mahanara River basin north of Sambava

Sambava

Sambava is a city and commune at the east coast of northern Madagascar. It is the capital of Sambava District and Sava Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 40,000 in 2001 commune census....

 in northeastern Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. Until its scientific description

Binomial nomenclature

Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...

 in 2011, this population was usually referred to as Paretroplus sp. nov. "Ventitry" or included in P. damii

Damba

The damba is a species of cichlid fish from several river basins in northwestern Madagascar. This includes populations in far northern Madagascar that some have speculated represented an undescribed species, but a comparison of specimens did not support this, instead maintaining them as part of P....

, which it resembles. It reaches about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in length, and is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

. The similar named Ptychochromis loisellei is also restricted to the Mahanara River basin.