Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo"

Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo" "Mumbo Island"Mumbo nyassae peacock

Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo" (Mumbo Island)

Mumbo Island — MOOM-boh 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 Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo" account →

Specific to Mumbo 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 Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesAulonocara nyassaeRegan 1922
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 536 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth10–82 ft3–25 m
DietSand-sifting micro-invertivore via ampullary lateral-line pores
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodersmall — a few dozen eggs (typical for the genus)
Sexual dimorphismYesMarked: dominant males yellow-to-blue and larger; females and subordinate males smaller, silvery-brown and cryptic.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mumbo Island population

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

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

About the species

Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo" is an UNDESCRIBED peacock cichlid of Lake Malawi — an informal field and hobby designation, not a validly published species. It is a regional population from the Mumbo Island area of the lake's south-western arm, treated by Lake Malawi field workers as allied to the described Aulonocara nyassae Regan, 1922 (the genus's type species) — an affinity stated honestly, not a settled determination. Like all peacocks it hovers over sand and rock-strewn floor and hunts buried invertebrates through the enlarged sensory pores of the head. No describing author, year, FishBase record, or IUCN assessment exists for this informal "Mumbo" form; nothing about its authority or rank should be invented, and it must not be conflated with the validly named Aulonocara nyassae itself.

Full Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. "Nyassae Mumbo" "Mumbo Island"
  2. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority; treats Mumbo peacocks and the nyassae complex)
  3. Konings, A. — Back to Nature Guide to Malawi Cichlids (Cichlid Press)
  4. Regan, C.T. (1922) — The cichlid fishes of Lake Nyassa (original genus Aulonocara and type species A. nyassae)
  5. MalawiCichlids.com — Aulonocara nyassae and the nyassae complex (M.K. Oliver)
  6. malawi.si — Aulonocara (M.K. Oliver / Konings species database)
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