Chizumulu Island
chee-zoo-MOO-loo EYE-land (approx.)
The atlas records 40 collection-point forms from Chizumulu Island, across 21 genera.
12.0244°S 34.6241°E
Chizumulu Island is a Malawian island in Mozambican waters, about 12 km west-north-west of Likoma Island, and a source of mbuna exported under its own name.
Where it is
Chizumulu Island is in open water about 11 mi off the eastern shore, in the central third of Lake Malawi (176 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Chiteko 0.6 mi north-east · Mkanila Bay 1.1 mi north-west · Machili Island 1.2 mi north-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: Salima (south-east shore) (~193 km) — Conductivity 235 µS/cm
This site
Surface temperature here
Across Apr–Nov, monthly means run 76 °F to 82 °F — coolest in Aug. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1079 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
Site photographs cover the island's northern and southern shores and its lighthouse, with Machili Island offshore. Together with Likoma, it is one of only two Malawian islands lying inside Mozambique's territorial waters.
Sources
- malawi.si — Chizumulu Island, Lake Malawi, Malawi: location page and photo gallery (captions by Christian D'Amour, Larry Johnson, Pete Barnes)
- Konings, A. (2016). Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 5th Edition. Cichlid Press, El Paso.
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.