Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Buccochromis lepturus

Buccochromis lepturus "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 Buccochromis lepturus 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 Buccochromis lepturus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size16.4 in41.7 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.5–8.8alkaline
Depth3–131 ft1–40 m
DietPiscivore — hunts juvenile cichlids over sand
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder267–627 eggs (females 294–588 g body weight; IUCN assessment)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales substantially larger and more colourful (metallic blue-green with dark diagonal stripe); females and subadults pale olive to silvery with faint banding. Female sexual maturity at ~16 cm SL.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

Buccochromis lepturus "Nkhata Bay" is the Nkhata Bay population of Buccochromis lepturus, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the central part of the lake. It is the same species as Buccochromis lepturus, 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

Buccochromis lepturus, the slender tail hap, is one of Lake Malawi's larger open-water predators — a streamlined, ambush-capable cichlid that can exceed 40 cm and spends its adult life hunting juvenile cichlids across the lake's sandy mid-depths. What sets it apart within its genus is the conspicuously narrow caudal peduncle that earned its name, and a rare iridescent green-blue body colour that makes it one of the most visually striking large haplochromines in the lake, yet one of the least often seen in the aquarium trade.

Full Buccochromis lepturus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Buccochromis lepturus "Nkhata Bay"
  2. FishBase — Buccochromis lepturus (Slender tail hap)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Buccochromis lepturus (species record)
  4. GBIF — Buccochromis lepturus (Regan, 1922) — taxon key 2371610
  5. The ETYFish Project — Family CICHLIDAE (part 2 of 7): Buccochromis + B. lepturus
  6. malawi.si — Buccochromis lepturus (species, localities & maps)