Cheilochromis euchilus "Matema"
Matema — mah-TEH-mah (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 Cheilochromis euchilus account →Specific to Matema
- 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 Cheilochromis euchilus.
The Matema population
Cheilochromis euchilus "Matema" is the Matema population of Cheilochromis euchilus, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Cheilochromis euchilus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Matema fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Cheilochromis euchilus, the Malawi thicklip, is a large haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi and instantly recognizable by the swollen, fleshy lips that fan out into finger-like lobes on both jaws. Those lips are a feeding tool: the fish presses them against rock crevices to form a seal and sucks out the small invertebrates sheltering inside. It is the only species in its genus, a quietly built predator that most of the time wears plain silver and only rarely shows the electric blue of a breeding male.
Full Cheilochromis euchilus account →Sources
- malawi.si — Cheilochromis euchilus "Matema"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Cheilochromis euchilus (species record)
- FishBase — Cheilochromis euchilus (Malawi thick lip)
- GBIF — Cheilochromis euchilus occurrence and taxonomy
- iNaturalist — Malawi Thicklip (Cheilochromis euchilus)
- IRMNG — Cheilochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989