Nkhotakota
n-koh-tah-KOH-tah (approx.)
The atlas records 10 collection-point forms from Nkhotakota, across 5 genera.
12.9237°S 34.2988°E
Nkhotakota is a site on Lake Malawi's Malawian shore, about 2 km west-south-west of Sungu Spit.
Where it is
Nkhotakota is on the western shore of Lake Malawi, in its southern third (239 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Jalo Reef 4.8 mi north-east · Sani 7.5 mi south · Chia 11 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: Salima (south-east shore) (~93 km) — Conductivity 235 µS/cm
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 (1222 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 are captioned for two rivers at Nkhotakota, labelled North River and South River.
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.