Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Aristochromis christyi

Aristochromis christyi "Chiwi Rocks"Malawi hawk

Aristochromis christyi (Chinyamwezi Island, Chiwi Rocks, Luwino Reef)

Chiwi Rocks — CHEE-wee ROKS (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 Aristochromis christyi account →

Specific to Chiwi Rocks

  • 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 Aristochromis christyi.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesAristochromis christyiTrewavas 1935 · this species
Scientific size12 in30 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth7–33 ft2–10 m
DietPiscivore — ambush predator on smaller cichlids
BreedingMaternal (ovophilous) mouthbrooder; polygynous, no pair bondlarge for a mouthbrooder (commensurate with a ~30 cm female); exact wild fecundity not published
Sexual dimorphismYesDominant males turn powder-blue with orange-red anal-fin markings; females and subordinate males are tan-grey with two dark lines along the upper flank.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chiwi Rocks population

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

Colour reference: living Chiwi Rocks fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Aristochromis christyi, the Malawi hawk, is a large, slope-snouted predator endemic to Lake Malawi and the only species in its genus. It patrols the broken ground where sand meets rock, hunting smaller cichlids with an unhurried, almost stalking approach before a sudden lunge from its long, protrusible jaws. Reaching about 12 in, it is one of the lake's most distinctive open-water ambush hunters — uncommon in the wild and correspondingly scarce in the hobby.

Full Aristochromis christyi account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aristochromis christyi "Chiwi Rocks"
  2. FishBase — Aristochromis christyi (Malawi hawk)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Aristochromis christyi (species record; Trewavas 1935; syntypes BMNH 1935.6.14.2284-2296)
  4. GBIF — Aristochromis christyi Trewavas, 1935
  5. Trewavas, E. (1935) — original description, Annals and Magazine of Natural History (10) 16: 117
  6. Oliver, M.K. — The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi (malawicichlids.com): Aristochromis christyi
  7. IUCN Red List — Aristochromis christyi "Chiwi Rocks"
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