Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis likomae

Copadichromis likomae "Ntekete"

Ntekete — n-teh-KEH-teh (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 likomae account →

Specific to Ntekete

  • 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 likomae.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.5 in14 cm total length
Temperature75–79 °F24–26 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth16–82 ft5–25 m
DietOpen-water zooplanktivore (utaka)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~30-60 eggs (utaka-typical; not documented for this species, by analogy to the open-water utaka C. chrysonotus, which averages ~49 eggs/brood per Smith 2000 & Weyl et al. 2005)
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males flush to a darker colour with contrasting lighter head and fins; females stay plainer silvery-grey.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Ntekete population

Copadichromis likomae "Ntekete" is the Ntekete population of Copadichromis likomae, 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 Copadichromis likomae, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Ntekete fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Copadichromis likomae is a zooplankton-feeding cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, one of the lake's many "utaka" — the shoaling, open-water haplochromines that drift above the rocks and pick copepods and other small animals out of the water column. It was described from Likoma Island, the Mozambican enclave island that gives the fish its name, and is still sold in the hobby under that locality. A modest silvery fish whose males flush into dark breeding dress, it is one of the utaka that Malawian fishermen net for food, and it is listed as Least Concern.

Full Copadichromis likomae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis likomae "Ntekete"
  2. FishBase — Copadichromis likomae summary
  3. Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer) — Copadichromis likomae (species record)
  4. The ETYFish Project — Cichlidae (Pseudocrenilabrinae): Copadichromis likomae etymology & type locality
  5. malawi.si — Copadichromis likomae 'Ntekete' (Stuart Grant / M.K. Oliver Lake Malawi database; photo © Ad Konings)
  6. malawi.si — Copadichromis sp. 'likomae masinje' Gome (geographic colour form)