Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Aulonocara sp. "Brown Black-pelvic"

Aulonocara sp. "Brown Black-pelvic" "Nkhata Bay"

Nkhata Bay — n-KAH-tah BAY (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 Aulonocara sp. "Brown Black-pelvic" account →

Specific to Nkhata Bay

  • 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 Aulonocara sp. "Brown Black-pelvic".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.1 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth26–98 ft8–30 m
DietSand-sifting micro-invertivore via ampullary lateral-line pores
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; expected modest (a few dozen eggs)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales brownish with conspicuously black pelvic fins; females and subordinate males plainer silvery-brown and cryptic, without the black pelvics.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Nkhata Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Aulonocara sp. "Brown Black-pelvic" is an undescribed peacock cichlid from Lake Malawi — a fish recognised in the hobby and field literature but never given a formal scientific name. Its informal label is purely descriptive, marking a brownish peacock whose males carry conspicuously black pelvic fins, a feature that helps tell it from the lake's many similar sand-dwelling peacocks. It is documented from the Nkhata Bay area on the western shore and belongs, like all peacocks, to the lake's radiation of sand-sifting sensory hunters — fish that hover over open sand and listen, through enlarged pits on the head, for invertebrates buried below. It is recognised informally, principally through Ad Konings's work, and no authority, year, FishBase number, or Red List status should ever be attached to it.

Full Aulonocara sp. "Brown Black-pelvic" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. "Brown Black-pelvic" "Nkhata Bay"
  2. Cichlid Room Companion — Aulonocara genus and undescribed forms (Ad Konings, curator)
  3. malawicichlids.com — Aulonocara sand-dwelling peacock forms (M.K. Oliver)
  4. malawi.si — Aulonocara species database (Konings-based; biotope, distribution, diet, breeding)
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi authority)
  6. Practical Fishkeeping — "Cichlids with a sixth sense" by Ad Konings (sensory feeding in Aulonocara)