Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Chindongo ater

Chindongo ater "Chinyamwezi Island"

Chinyamwezi Island — cheen-yahm-WEH-zee 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 Chindongo ater account →

Specific to Chinyamwezi 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 Chindongo ater.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3 in8 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth3–39 ft1–12 m
DietAufwuchs grazer (algae/diatoms bitten from rock; genus-typical, not species-confirmed)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)not documented for this species; expected modest (a few dozen eggs)
Sexual dimorphismYesDimorphism variable across Chindongo (some species dichromatic, some monomorphic like C. demasoni); not confirmed specifically for this species. Named for a dark, blackish body colour.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chinyamwezi Island population

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

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

About the species

Chindongo ater is a dwarf mbuna of Lake Malawi whose Latin name, "black," names it for a dark, near-melanistic colour scheme unusual among the mbuna's typically vivid blues and yellows. It belongs to Chindongo, a genus carved out of the old Pseudotropheus in 2016 to unite a group of small rock-dwelling grazers, and is documented from Chinyamwezi Island in the southern part of the lake.

Full Chindongo ater account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Chindongo ater "Chinyamwezi Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Species search (California Academy of Sciences; authority for valid names)
  3. Li, S., Konings, A.F. & Stauffer, J.R. Jr. (2016) — A revision of the Pseudotropheus elongatus species group with description of a new genus Chindongo, Zootaxa 4168(2): 353–381
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)