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

Aulonocara sp. "Deep" "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. "Deep" 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. "Deep".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.7 in12 cm total length
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth98–197 ft30–60 m
DietSand-sifting micro-invertivore via ampullary lateral-line pores (inferred from genus anatomy; deepwater feeding behaviour undocumented)
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismYesPresumed present in the general peacock manner but poorly documented; a deepwater, low-light form expected to show restrained coloration relative to shallow peacocks.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

Aulonocara sp. "Deep" "Nkhata Bay" is the Nkhata Bay population of Aulonocara sp. "Deep", 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. "Deep", 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. "Deep" is an undescribed, deepwater peacock cichlid from Lake Malawi — recognised in the field but never formally named, with no describing author, no year, and no scientific catalogue entry. As its informal name says plainly, it is a fish of the deep: documented from the open, dimly lit waters off Nkhata Bay on the northwestern shore, where it lives well below the reach of the snorkeller and the casual collector. It carries the enlarged head pores that define the Aulonocara peacocks, marking it as a sand-sifting member of that radiation adapted to a deep, low-light life. Sparsely documented and rarely seen, it should be treated strictly as a documented field form rather than a described species.

Full Aulonocara sp. "Deep" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. "Deep" "Nkhata Bay"
  2. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. 'deep' Nkhata Bay (species database; deepwater form documented off Nkhata Bay, photo by Martin Genner)
  3. Changes in fish species diversity, size structure and distribution in the trawlable demersal zones of Lake Malawi (records 'Aulonocara sp deep' among deepwater cichlids)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Aulonocara genus and undescribed forms (Ad Konings, curator)
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi authority)
  6. MalawiCichlids.com — Aulonocara genus overview (M.K. Oliver; sand-dwelling peacock biology)