Black Diamond — Paratipalia polleni

This one is called Kim Cương Đen — “Black Diamond”, or Starry Night. It’s a Black Diamond because of its black color with white spots, but also because it lives in Africa (the diamond continent). Scientific name: Paratipalia polleni, in the family Cichlidae (the emperor-fish / cichlid family). Polleni in Latin means “grains of flour”.

This species is endemic to northern Madagascar — a region with a remarkably diverse ecosystem that is now being hit by construction, urbanization, deforestation, climate change, and famine, all of which are damaging the habitat of its freshwater fish.