Collection point · Lake Malawi · Tanzania

Thumbi Point

TOOM-bee POYNT (approx.)

The atlas records 12 collection-point forms from Thumbi Point, across 9 genera.

11.0283°S 34.6114°E

Thumbi Point is a point on Lake Malawi's Tanzanian shore, under 1 km north-north-east of Thumbi Reef Kitenge Rocks.

Where it is

Thumbi Point is on the eastern shore of Lake Malawi, in its northern third (107 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Thumbi Reef 0.1 mi south-west · Njambe 2.4 mi north-east · Ngehe 2.4 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) (~304 km) — Conductivity 235 µS/cm

Surface temperature here

Across May–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 (920 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 (2)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (1)–MApr: too few clear satellite days (9)–AMay: 80 °F mean (79 °F–82 °F), 54 clear satellite daysMJun: 79 °F mean (77 °F–80 °F), 108 clear satellite daysJJul: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 152 clear satellite daysJAug: 76 °F mean (75 °F–78 °F), 208 clear satellite daysASep: 77 °F mean (76 °F–79 °F), 212 clear satellite daysSOct: 80 °F mean (78 °F–82 °F), 118 clear satellite daysONov: 82 °F mean (79 °F–83 °F), 53 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (3)–D
Surface temperature by month near Thumbi Point — 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 — Thumbi Point, 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.

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