Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Aulonocara sp. "Chitande Type Masinje"

Aulonocara sp. "Chitande Type Masinje" "Liwani"

Liwani — lee-WAH-nee (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. "Chitande Type Masinje" account →

Specific to Liwani

  • 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. "Chitande Type Masinje".

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 with an iridescent blue head over a barred body (Chitande type); females and subordinate males silvery-brown and cryptic.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Liwani population

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

Colour reference: living Liwani fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Aulonocara sp. "Chitande Type Masinje" 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 marks it as the Masinje (Gome Rock) population of the "Chitande-type" peacocks, the assemblage of blue-headed, barred sand-dwellers named after the Chitande Island fish of the northern lake. This population comes from the south-eastern arm of the lake near Makanjila. Like all peacocks it belongs 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. "Chitande Type Masinje" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. "Chitande Type Masinje" "Liwani"
  2. Cichlid Room Companion — Aulonocara genus and the Chitande-type peacock forms (Ad Konings, curator)
  3. malawicichlids.com — Aulonocara Chitande-type peacock forms and southern-lake localities (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)