Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Caprichromis orthognathus

Caprichromis orthognathus "Masasa Reef"Binga

Caprichromis orthognathus (Masasa Reef, Senga Bay)

Masasa Reef — mah-SAH-sah 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 orthognathus account →

Specific to Masasa 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 orthognathus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2019
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesCaprichromis orthognathusdescribed as Haplochromis orthognathus Trewavas 1935 · this species
Scientific size7.5 in19.5 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 179 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth0–98 ft0–30 m
DietPaedophage (rams brooding females to spill and eat their larvae)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderModest clutch (poorly documented)
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males intensify in color and carry egg-spot ocelli on the anal fin; females and non-dominant males stay comparatively plain.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Masasa Reef population

Caprichromis orthognathus "Masasa Reef" is the Masasa Reef population of Caprichromis orthognathus, 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 orthognathus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Masasa Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Caprichromis orthognathus is a slim, mid-water haplochromine from Lake Malawi with a mouth tilted sharply upward — a face built for one of the strangest feeding strategies in the lake. It is a paedophage: it rams the underside of a brooding female cichlid's head, forcing her to spit out the larvae she is carrying, and then eats the spilled young. The steeply angled jaw that gives the fish its name is the tool for that head-butt. Few cichlids wear their ecology so plainly on their face.

Full Caprichromis orthognathus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Caprichromis orthognathus "Masasa Reef"
  2. FishBase — Caprichromis orthognathus (SpecCode 2261)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Haplochromis/Caprichromis orthognathus (species record, spid 37895)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — genus Caprichromis (Eccles & Trewavas 1989; type species H. orthognathus)
  5. FishBase — Caprichromis orthognathus common names list
  6. GBIF — Caprichromis orthognathus (Trewavas, 1935) occurrence and taxon record
  7. IUCN Red List — Caprichromis orthognathus "Masasa Reef"
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