Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Aulonocara sp. "Deep Lutheri"

Aulonocara sp. "Deep Lutheri" "Gome"

Gome — GOH-meh (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. "Deep Lutheri" account →

Specific to Gome

  • 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. "Deep Lutheri".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth49–131 ft15–40 m
DietSand-sifting micro-invertivore via ampullary lateral-line pores (genus-typical Aulonocara)
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; expected modest (genus-typical, a few dozen eggs)
Sexual dimorphismYesHobby references describe related 'Lutheri'-type males as blue-bodied with orange-to-red fin tones; form-specific colour documentation for this deep-water Gome population is not available in the sources compiled here.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Gome population

Aulonocara sp. "Deep Lutheri" "Gome" is the Gome population of Aulonocara sp. "Deep Lutheri", 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. "Deep Lutheri", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Gome fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Aulonocara sp. "Deep Lutheri" is an undescribed peacock cichlid from Lake Malawi, recorded from Gome on the central-western shore and recognised in the hobby and field literature as a deeper-water population carrying the established "Lutheri" trade tag. 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 known through malawi.si and Ad Konings's field surveys rather than a taxonomic publication, and no authority, year, FishBase number, or Red List status should ever be attached to it.

Full Aulonocara sp. "Deep Lutheri" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. "Deep Lutheri" "Gome"
  2. malawi.si — Aulonocara species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope, diet, breeding)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Aulonocara genus and undescribed forms (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. malawicichlids.com — Aulonocara sand-dwelling peacock forms (M.K. Oliver)
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi authority)