Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Abactochromis labrosus

Abactochromis labrosus "Chiloelo"

Chiloelo — chee-loh-EH-loh (approx.)

The fish

How this cichlid is built, and everything about how it lives, eats and breeds, is shared with the species — this page doesn't repeat it.

Read the full Abactochromis labrosus account →

Specific to Chiloelo

  • Collection locality & coordinates
  • Local coloration — best judged from the living-fish photo
  • Kept as a single-provenance line, never crossed with other collection points

Care facts below are the species' — shared with Abactochromis labrosus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in11.5 cm standard length
Temperature73–79 °F23–26 °C
pH7–8.5alkaline
Depth0–98 ft0–30 m
DietBenthic invertivore; sucks invertebrates from rock crevices
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~20–40 eggs (genus-typical for a fish this size; not formally published for this species)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales grow larger and are more persistently territorial. Breeding males develop bluish-gray to purplish-gray body coloration with strongly contrasting dark vertical bars; normal coloration differences between sexes are subtle.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chiloelo population

Abactochromis labrosus "Chiloelo" is the Chiloelo population of Abactochromis labrosus, a geographic colour form from the Mozambique coast of Lake Malawi in the south-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Abactochromis labrosus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Chiloelo fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Abactochromis labrosus is the sole species in its genus and one of Lake Malawi's oddest mbuna: a deep-bodied, laterally compressed rock-dweller whose huge, taste-bud-loaded lips fold into fleshy median lobes and let it probe the narrowest crevices for hidden invertebrates. Ethelwynn Trewavas described it in 1935 as a puzzling Melanochromis; Oliver and Arnegard finally gave it a monotypic genus of its own in 2010. It occurs around most of the lake's rocky shores yet is met so seldom that its true numbers are almost certainly underestimated. For the aquarist, that rarity is the headline: only a handful leave Malawi each year, and specimens usually arrive unlabelled, so knowing what you actually have is half the job.

Full Abactochromis labrosus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Abactochromis labrosus "Chiloelo"
  2. FishBase — Abactochromis labrosus (Trewavas, 1935)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Abactochromis labrosus species record (Updated 19 May 2026)
  4. Oliver, M.K. & Arnegard, M.E. 2010 — A new genus for Melanochromis labrosus, a problematic Lake Malawi cichlid with hypertrophied lips (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 21(3):209–232
  5. ETYFish Project — Family CICHLIDAE: Subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae (a–g): Abactochromis labrosus etymology
  6. Trewavas, E. 1935 — A synopsis of the cichlid fishes of Lake Nyasa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (Ser. 10) 16(91): 65–118