Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Chindongo sp. "Burrower"

Chindongo sp. "Burrower" "Chidunga Rocks"Pseudotropheus sp. "Burrower"

Chindongo sp. "Burrower" (Chidunga Rocks, Nakantenga Island)

Chidunga Rocks — chee-DOON-gah ROKS (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. "Burrower" account →

Specific to Chidunga Rocks

  • 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. "Burrower".

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
DietAlgae/Aufwuchs grazer, rasping filamentous algae and associated invertebrates from rock; likely also forages at the rock-sand margin
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; expected modest (genus-typical, a few dozen eggs)
Sexual dimorphismYesNot documented in detail for this form; genus-typical sexual dichromatism, with males colouring more intensely, is expected.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chidunga Rocks population

Chindongo sp. "Burrower" "Chidunga Rocks" is the Chidunga Rocks population of Chindongo sp. "Burrower", 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 sp. "Burrower", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Chidunga Rocks fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Chindongo sp. "Burrower" is an undescribed mbuna cichlid from the southern-central shore of Lake Malawi, recorded at Chidunga Rocks and Nakantenga Island. It has no formal scientific name. The trade tag refers to shelter behaviour — this population is reported to make heavier use of excavated holes and burrows at the interface of rock and sand than is typical for the genus, rather than relying solely on natural rock crevices for cover. It belongs to Chindongo, the group of small rock-dwelling algae grazers that Ad Konings split from Pseudotropheus in 2016, and it is one of several locality forms in that group still awaiting formal description.

Full Chindongo sp. "Burrower" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Chindongo sp. "Burrower" "Chidunga Rocks"
  2. malawi.si — Chindongo species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Chindongo genus and mbuna taxonomy (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)
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