Likoma Island
lee-KOH-mah EYE-land (approx.)
The atlas records 49 collection-point forms from Likoma Island, across 26 genera.
12.0696°S 34.7311°E
Likoma Island lies in the north-eastern part of Lake Malawi, a Malawian island surrounded by Mozambican waters and a well-known source of mbuna exported under its own name.
Where it is
Likoma Island is in open water about 4.3 mi off the eastern shore, in the central third of Lake Malawi (180 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Mbamba Islands 1.2 mi east · Mbuzi Islands 1.2 mi south-east · Madimba Bay 1.4 mi north-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.
Nearest measured station: Salima (south-east shore) (~190 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 (1251 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
Together with neighbouring Chizumulu, Likoma is one of only two Malawian islands lying inside Mozambique's territorial waters. Site photographs show St Peter's Cathedral, one of the island's recognisable landmarks.
Sources
- malawi.si — Likoma Island, Lake Malawi, Malawi: location page and photo gallery (captions by Larry Johnson, Pam Chin, Green Safaris)
- 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.