Masasa Reef
mah-SAH-sah REEF (approx.)
The atlas records 10 collection-point forms from Masasa Reef, across 7 genera.
14.0975°S 34.9353°E
Masasa Reef is a reef off Lake Malawi's Malawian shore, under 1 km north-east of Mwalamba Point.
Where it is
Masasa Reef is on the western shore of Lake Malawi, in its southern third (319 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Songwe Hill 0.7 mi north · Kanchedza Island 0.9 mi south · Chirombo Bay 1.4 mi south
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) (~9 km) — Visibility (Secchi) 12.5 m
Surface temperature here
Across Apr–Nov, monthly means run 74 °F to 81 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1463 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.
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.