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

Aulonocara sp. "Walteri" "Mkanila Bay"

Mkanila Bay — m-kah-NEE-lah 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. "Walteri" account →

Specific to Mkanila 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. "Walteri".

CARESNOT LISTED
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth10–66 ft3–20 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-gold with metallic-blue face and larger size; females and subordinate males smaller, silvery-brown and cryptic.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mkanila Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Mkanila Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Aulonocara sp. "Walteri" is an UNDESCRIBED peacock cichlid from Lake Malawi — an informal hobby and field designation rather than a validly named species. It belongs to the lake's distinctive radiation of sensory-pore sand-dwellers: peacocks that hover over open or rock-strewn sand and listen, through enlarged pits and canals on the head, for invertebrates stirring in the substrate. "Walteri" is one of several yellow-and-blue forms allied to the Aulonocara stuartgranti complex that have circulated in the trade and in field collectors' notes without ever receiving a formal description. No scientific author, publication year, FishBase record, or IUCN assessment exists for it; everything written here describes a recognised form awaiting taxonomic resolution, and its standing should be read in that light.

Full Aulonocara sp. "Walteri" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Aulonocara sp. "Walteri" "Mkanila Bay"
  2. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority, treats undescribed Aulonocara forms)
  3. Konings, A. — Back to Nature Guide to Malawi Cichlids (Cichlid Press)
  4. Turner, G.F. — Offshore Cichlids of Lake Malawi (Cichlid Press; sand-dwelling and deep-water Aulonocara)
  5. MalawiCichlids.com — Aulonocara (M.K. Oliver; genus overview and peacock forms)
  6. malawi.si — Aulonocara (M.K. Oliver / Konings species database)