Caprichromis liemi "Luwala Reef"
Caprichromis liemi (Boadzulu Island, 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 Caprichromis liemi 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 Caprichromis liemi.
The Luwala Reef population
Caprichromis liemi "Luwala Reef" is the Luwala Reef 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 Luwala Reef 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 →