Cape Maclear
kayp muh-KLEER (approx.)
The atlas records 8 collection-point forms from Cape Maclear, across 6 genera.
14.0011°S 34.8264°E
Cape Maclear is a cape on Lake Malawi's Malawian shore, about 2 km south-south-west of Domwe Island.
Where it is
Cape Maclear is on the western shore of Lake Malawi, in its southern third (313 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Ilala Gap 1.5 mi east · Domwe Island 1.5 mi north · Thumbi West Island 1.5 mi south-west
Shore, third and distances are measured from the coordinates above against the lake’s mapped outline.
The water
Lake-wide measured chemistry of Lake Malawi — collection points share their lake's water; site-specific figures are shown only where the literature records them.
Nearest measured station: Monkey Bay (south basin) (~10 km) — Visibility (Secchi) 12.5 m
Surface temperature here
Across Apr–Nov, monthly means run 75 °F to 82 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1453 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.
Temperature: ESA Climate Change Initiative, Lakes_cci v3.0 (Asfour et al. 2026; doi:10.5285/a56dba09df8a42ec9fba8b8c7a5e1f69). Chemistry on this page remains the lake's own.
The site
A caption credited to Michael K. Oliver, looking north-north-west from a hill behind Otter Point, identifies Domwe Island at right (noting that Cape Maclear is technically Domwe's far tip), Thumbi Island West nearer the centre, Mumbo Island further along, and the Maleri Islands dimly visible on the horizon beyond Mumbo.
Each entry below is the population of that species recorded here — the form aquarists keep and breed as a distinct, provenance-labelled line. Crossing forms from different collection points is considered hybridisation in the hobby.