Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Caprichromis liemi

Caprichromis liemi "Boadzulu Island"

Boadzulu Island — boh-ah-DZOO-loo 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 Caprichromis liemi account →

Specific to Boadzulu 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 Caprichromis liemi.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7 in18 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Hardness (GH)slightly hardup to 179 ppm
Depth0–98 ft0–30 m
DietPaedophage — rams brooding females of other cichlids to spill and eat their eggs/larvae
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)Not documented; presumed modest, in line with the genus
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical: breeding males expected to intensify in colour with anal-fin egg-spots; females and subordinate males comparatively plain. Not documented in detail for this species.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Boadzulu Island population

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

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

About the species

Caprichromis liemi is a slender, mid-water haplochromine from Lake Malawi and one of only two species in a genus built around one of the strangest feeding strategies in the lake: ramming the head of a brooding female cichlid to force her to spit out the young she is carrying, then eating the spilled larvae. Its close and only congener, Caprichromis orthognathus, shares the same steeply angled jaw and paedophagous habit, though liemi is distinguished by thinner gums and more exposed teeth. It is documented here from two southern lake sites, Boadzulu Island and Luwala Reef.

Full Caprichromis liemi account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Caprichromis liemi "Boadzulu Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — online database (authority for valid fish names; genus Caprichromis, Eccles & Trewavas 1989)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; genus Caprichromis and its paedophagous feeding strategy)