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

Aulonocara sp. "Pyramid" "Luwala Reef"

Luwala Reef — loo-WAH-lah REEF (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. "Pyramid" account →

Specific to Luwala Reef

  • 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. "Pyramid".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.7 in12 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth33–98 ft10–30 m
DietSand-sifting micro-invertivore via ampullary lateral-line pores (inferred from genus anatomy; actual feeding behaviour undocumented)
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismYesPresumed present in the general peacock manner but poorly documented; the form is distinguished by a very large eye, long snout, and flat lower-body profile, resembling a small A. brevinidus.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Luwala Reef population

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

Colour reference: living Luwala Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Aulonocara sp. "Pyramid" is an undescribed peacock cichlid from Lake Malawi — recognised in the field by Ad Konings but never formally named, with no describing author, no year, and no scientific catalogue entry. It is one of the lake's most elusive peacocks: an elongate, large-eyed, long-snouted fish of open sand, seen only occasionally and mixed in with the foraging schools of other peacocks. It resembles a small Aulonocara brevinidus but is set apart by its proportionally larger eye and longer snout, and its enlarged head pores leave no doubt that it belongs among the Aulonocara peacocks. Documented from a handful of localities and never exported for the aquarium hobby, it should be treated strictly as a documented field form rather than a described species.

Full Aulonocara sp. "Pyramid" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. "Pyramid" "Luwala Reef"
  2. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. 'pyramid' Luwala Reef (Konings-based species database; distribution, morphology, open-sand habitat, never exported)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Aulonocara genus and undescribed forms (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi authority, recognises sp. 'pyramid')
  5. MalawiCichlids.com — Aulonocara genus overview (M.K. Oliver; sand-dwelling peacock biology)