Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Chindongo sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji"

Chindongo sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji" "Mbenji Island"Pseudotropheus sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji"

Chindongo sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji" (Ababi Island, Mbenji Island, Penga Penga Island)

Mbenji Island — m-BEHN-jee 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 sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji" account →

Specific to Mbenji 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 sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesChindongo bellicosusLi, Konings & Stauffer 2016
Scientific size4 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 446 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth7–49 ft2–15 m
DietEpilithic algae grazer (herbivore; genus-typical for Chindongo, the former "elongatus" complex)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (polygynous; no pair bond)not documented for this form; genus-typical broods for small mbuna run roughly 10-25 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesColour not documented specifically for this form beyond a general zebra-barred pattern typical of Chindongo; males of the genus typically show blue ground colour with dark barring, females plainer.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mbenji Island population

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

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

About the species

Chindongo sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji" is an undescribed mbuna from the small Mbenji Island group in south-central Lake Malawi, a cluster of offshore islands well known among cichlid specialists for harbouring several endemic and near-endemic forms found nowhere else in the lake. The trade name flags a behavioural trait — unusually pronounced territorial aggression, even by mbuna standards — alongside the zebra body pattern and Mbenji origin. It has never been formally described.

Full Chindongo sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Chindongo sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji" "Mbenji Island"
  2. malawi.si — Chindongo sp. "Aggressive Zebra Mbenji" locality records (Konings/Bauer database)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Lake Malawi cichlid reference (Ad Konings et al.)
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