Collection point · Lake Malawi · Malawi

Linganjala Reef

leen-gahn-JAH-lah REEF (approx.)

The atlas records 16 collection-point forms from Linganjala Reef, across 9 genera.

12.0064°S 34.5919°E

Linganjala Reef is a reef off Lake Malawi's Malawian shore, about 2 km north-west of Chizumulu Reef.

Where it is

Linganjala Reef is in open water about 14 mi off the eastern shore, in the central third of Lake Malawi (175 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Machili Island 1.3 mi south-east · Mkanila Bay 1.7 mi east · Chizumulu Island 2.5 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) (~195 km) — Conductivity 235 µS/cm

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 (1069 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

74°77°80°83°Jan: too few clear satellite days (0)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (0)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (1)–MApr: 81 °F mean (80 °F–83 °F), 14 clear satellite daysAMay: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 75 clear satellite daysMJun: 78 °F mean (77 °F–79 °F), 137 clear satellite daysJJul: 76 °F mean (75 °F–77 °F), 183 clear satellite daysJAug: 76 °F mean (75 °F–77 °F), 237 clear satellite daysASep: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 225 clear satellite daysSOct: 80 °F mean (78 °F–82 °F), 143 clear satellite daysONov: 82 °F mean (80 °F–84 °F), 52 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (2)–D
Surface temperature by month near Linganjala Reef — 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.

The site

A site photograph shows a fisherman at the reef.

Sources
  1. malawi.si — Linganjala Reef, Lake Malawi, Malawi: location page and photo gallery (captions by Larry Johnson)

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.

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