Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Astatotilapia sp. "Calliptera Chizumulu"

Astatotilapia sp. "Calliptera Chizumulu" "Chizumulu Island"

Chizumulu Island — chee-zoo-MOO-loo EYE-land (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 Astatotilapia sp. "Calliptera Chizumulu" account →

Specific to Chizumulu Island

  • 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 Astatotilapia sp. "Calliptera Chizumulu".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.5–8.5alkaline
Depth0–30 ft0–9 m
DietGeneralist omnivore - aquatic invertebrates, algae, plant material, small fishes and plankton (complex-typical, as in Astatotilapia calliptera)
Breedingmaternal (ovophilic) mouthbroodernot documented for this population; complex-typical is modest, a few dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesComplex-typical: dominant males colour up with ocellated anal-fin egg-spots, females and subordinate males stay a subdued green-grey. The specific male breeding colour of the Chizumulu Island population is not documented in the sources compiled here.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chizumulu Island population

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

Colour reference: living Chizumulu Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Astatotilapia sp. "Calliptera Chizumulu" is an undescribed population of the Astatotilapia calliptera species complex, recorded from Chizumulu Island in the northern part of Lake Malawi. Astatotilapia calliptera is one of the few non-endemic haplochromines native to the lake basin and sits near the root of the explosive Malawi cichlid radiation in genomic studies, with substantial genetic and colour divergence documented among its scattered lake, river and island populations. This form is recognised informally by locality rather than by a published description, and its precise relationship to the nominal species has not been formally settled. No authority, year, or IUCN status should be attached to it.

Full Astatotilapia sp. "Calliptera Chizumulu" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Astatotilapia sp. "Calliptera Chizumulu" "Chizumulu Island"
  2. malawi.si — Astatotilapia species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  3. FishBase — Astatotilapia calliptera (Eastern happy): species summary, size, ecology
  4. Malinsky, M., Svardal, H., Tyers, A.M. et al. 2018 — Whole-genome sequences of Malawi cichlids reveal multiple radiations interconnected by gene flow (Nature Ecology & Evolution 2: 1940-1955; Astatotilapia calliptera population structure)
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)