The Orange Chromide (Etroplus maculatus), known locally as රන් කොරළියා (Ran Koraliya) or කහ කොරළියා (Kaha Koraliya), is a native freshwater and brackish-water cichlid species in Sri Lanka belonging to the family Cichlidae. As one of the few cichlid species indigenous to South Asia alongside its larger relative, the Green Chromide, it possesses a disc-shaped, deep, laterally compressed body with a short snout and continuous dorsal and anal fins equipped with sharp anterior spines. It is smaller than E. suratensis and easily recognized by its striking yellowish-orange to golden body coloration, fine rows of small reddish-brown dots, and a central pattern of 1 to 3 prominent dark spots on its flanks. Inhabiting slow-moving rivers, streams, coastal lagoons, estuaries, and shallow freshwater lakes across Sri Lanka's lowlands, this species is euryhaline and adaptable to varying salinities. As a dedicated substrate-spawner, both parents aggressively defend their eggs and young, displaying complex parental care such as excavating nursery pits in the sediment and allowing free-swimming fry to feed on parental body mucus. Its omnivorous diet consists primarily of zooplankton, small benthic invertebrates, algae, and detritus.