Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth"

Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth" "Nkhotakota"

Nkhotakota — n-koh-tah-KOH-tah (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 sp. "Large Mouth" account →

Specific to Nkhotakota

  • 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 sp. "Large Mouth".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size12 in30 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth0–66 ft0–20 m
DietActive piscivore - ambush/pursuit predator of smaller cichlids over open sand (genus-typical Buccochromis)
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; congeners of comparable size produce roughly several dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical: breeding males intensify to a strong body colour (blue tones common across Buccochromis), females and non-breeding males stay silvery-grey with a faint stripe. The specific breeding colour of this form is not documented in the sources compiled here.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhotakota population

Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth" "Nkhotakota" is the Nkhotakota population of Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth", a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the south-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Nkhotakota fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth" is an undescribed predatory cichlid from Lake Malawi, recorded off Nkhotakota on the central-western shore and named for a gape unusually large even within a genus already defined by an outsized mouth. Buccochromis is a small genus of large, elongate haplochromine piscivores that hunt smaller cichlids over open sand - the genus name itself is built from the Latin for cheek or mouth. This population is recognised through field and hobby references rather than a taxonomic publication, and no authority, year, or conservation status should be attached to it.

Full Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Buccochromis sp. "Large Mouth" "Nkhotakota"
  2. malawi.si — Buccochromis species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Buccochromis genus overview (large predatory haplochromines of Lake Malawi)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)