Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Malawi · Tanzania

Lifuma

lee-FOO-mah (approx.)

The atlas records 3 collection-point forms from Lifuma, across 2 genera.

9.9772°S 34.4868°E

Lifuma is a collection point on Lake Malawi's Tanzanian shore, about 5 km north-north-west of Msisi.

Where it is

Lifuma is on the eastern shore of Lake Malawi, in its northern third (35 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Msisi 3 mi south-east · Makonde 3 mi north-west · Lupingu 7.5 mi south-east

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.

Temperature75.2–84.2 °F24–29 °C
pH8.2–8.6alkaline
Hardnessmoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppm
Conductivity≈250–260 µS/cmmeasured range

Nearest measured station: Salima (south-east shore) (~420 km) — Conductivity 235 µS/cm

Surface temperature here

Across May–Nov, monthly means run 77 °F to 82 °F — coolest in Aug. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1026 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

75°78°81°84°Jan: too few clear satellite days (0)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (3)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (3)–MApr: too few clear satellite days (8)–AMay: 80 °F mean (79 °F–82 °F), 59 clear satellite daysMJun: 79 °F mean (77 °F–80 °F), 141 clear satellite daysJJul: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 172 clear satellite daysJAug: 77 °F mean (75 °F–78 °F), 220 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (76 °F–79 °F), 228 clear satellite daysSOct: 80 °F mean (78 °F–82 °F), 123 clear satellite daysONov: 82 °F mean (80 °F–83 °F), 60 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (9)–D
Surface temperature by month near Lifuma — dot = mean, bar = typical range (10th–90th percentile), “–” = too cloudy to measure.

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.

Sources
  1. malawi.si — Lifuma, Lake Malawi, Tanzania: location page and photo gallery

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.

Labeotropheus (1)

Maylandia (2)

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