Thumbi West Island
TOOM-bee WEST EYE-land (approx.)
The atlas records 37 collection-point forms from Thumbi West Island, across 19 genera.
14.0195°S 34.8142°E
Thumbi West Island lies off Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi's south-western shore, one of the most-photographed points on the lake and close to the village of Chembe and to Otter Point.
Where it is
Thumbi West Island is in open water about 1.9 mi off the eastern shore, in the southern third of Lake Malawi (314 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Mitande Reef (Rocks) 0.8 mi south-east · Otter Point 1.5 mi south-east · Cape Maclear 1.5 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: Monkey Bay (south basin) (~11 km) — Visibility (Secchi) 12.5 m
This site
Surface temperature here
Across Apr–Nov, monthly means run 75 °F to 82 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1449 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
The island sits between Domwe Island, whose far tip forms Cape Maclear, and Mumbo Island further out; the Maleri Islands are dimly visible beyond Mumbo on the horizon. Mitande Reef lies just off Thumbi West's own shore.
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.