Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis diplostigma

Copadichromis diplostigma "Likoma Island"

Likoma Island — lee-KOH-mah 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 Copadichromis diplostigma account →

Specific to Likoma 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 Copadichromis diplostigma.

IUCNNEAR THREATENED · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.4 in11.2 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth39–59 ft12–18 m
DietPlanktivore (utaka) — zooplankton in the water column plus benthic invertebrates
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder; males build and defend sand bowersnot documented
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males are metallic blue with a yellow breast and a narrow yellow marginal band on the anal fin; females and immature males are silvery and plain.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Likoma Island population

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

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

About the species

Copadichromis diplostigma is a small open-water 'utaka' cichlid endemic to the waters around Likoma Island in Lake Malawi. Described only in 2006, it belongs to the Copadichromis mbenjii species group of sand-bower builders: territorial males excavate spawning craters at the sand-rock interface in the intermediate zone, while females and young fish shoal in midwater and graze on drifting zooplankton. Its name records the two dark blotches on each flank — one above the pectoral fin, one on the caudal peduncle — that distinguish it from its many blue-headed relatives.

Full Copadichromis diplostigma account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis diplostigma "Likoma Island"
  2. Stauffer & Konings, 2006 — 'Review of Copadichromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with the description of a new genus and six new species' (Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 17(1): 9-42)
  3. FishBase — Copadichromis diplostigma (Stauffer & Konings, 2006)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Copadichromis diplostigma (species record, spid 69092)
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (utaka / Copadichromis biology and bower behaviour)
  6. malawi.si (Stuart M. Grant / M.K. Oliver Malawi database) — Copadichromis diplostigma 'Likoma Island' (biotope, depth ~12 m, dimorphism, hobby name 'Likoma Blue')