Chindongo longior "Puulu"

Puulupoo-OO-loo (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 longior account →

Specific to Puulu

  • 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 longior.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)slightly hardup to 214 ppm
Depth3–49 ft1–15 m
DietGrazes algal turf (aufwuchs) from rock surfaces
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderSmall, likely a few dozen eggs or fewer given the genus's modest body size
Sexual dimorphismYesExpected to follow the genus pattern of vertical barring and more intense male colour; specific pattern not confidently documented here.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Puulu population

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

Colour reference: living Puulu fish at malawi.si

About the species

Chindongo longior is a small, rock-dwelling mbuna from the northern shore of Lake Malawi, part of the genus Chindongo erected in 2016 to house the elongate-bodied relatives of the well-known "elongatus complex." Its species name — Latin for "longer" — echoes that theme directly, describing a body proportionally more slender and torpedo-shaped than the typical deep-bodied mbuna it lives alongside. Like its genus-mates it is a territorial algae grazer confined to the lake's rocky shoreline habitat.

Full Chindongo longior account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Chindongo longior "Puulu"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — species search (California Academy of Sciences)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)