Usisya
oo-SEE-syah (approx.)
The atlas records 8 collection-point forms from Usisya, across 6 genera.
11.2295°S 34.2192°E
Usisya is a collection point on Lake Malawi's Malawian shore where the lake steamer stops, about 2 km north-west of Mphandi Point.
Where it is
Usisya is on the western shore of Lake Malawi, in its central third (121 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Tchinga Reef 1.4 mi south-east · Mara Rocks 2.4 mi east · Mbowe Island 3.4 mi north
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) (~281 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 (901 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, credited to Carsten Jensen Gissel, note that Usisya Bay lies north of Mphandi Point, while Mudoyi Village lies south of the point — a place some local people also call Usisya. Mbowe Island is visible in one photograph.
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.