Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis pleurostigma

Copadichromis pleurostigma "Liuli"

Liuli — lee-OO-lee (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 pleurostigma account →

Specific to Liuli

  • 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 pleurostigma.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7.7 in19.5 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth10–151 ft3–46 m
DietOpen-water utaka plankton-feeder (algae-specialised)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderNot counted for C. pleurostigma; genus-typical ~50-90 eggs expected for so large (to ~20 cm) an utaka (cf. ca. 60 eggs in the smaller C. borleyi, FishBase Ref. 2060)
Sexual dimorphismYesFemales and non-breeding males plain silvery-beige with a large dark suprapectoral side spot; dominant males in brighter breeding dress. Juveniles bright yellow all over, fading on the flanks with age.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Liuli population

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

Colour reference: living Liuli fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Copadichromis pleurostigma is a haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi and a member of the utaka, the lake's assemblage of shoaling, open-water plankton-pickers. It is one of the larger utaka, reaching about 20 cm, and it is set apart from its relatives by an unusual diet: where most utaka strain zooplankton from the water column, pleurostigma carries the long gut and crowded pharyngeal teeth of a fish adapted to rupture and digest algae and phytoplankton. Females and non-breeding fish wear the plain silvery livery of the genus, marked by a single large dark blotch above the pectoral fin — the side spot that gives the species its name. As a maternal mouthbrooder it shows a curious twist on parental care: brooding females have been seen releasing their fry into the safety of utaka nursery schools that gather over the nests of the giant kampango catfish, then leaving them to fend for themselves.

Full Copadichromis pleurostigma account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis pleurostigma "Liuli"
  2. Trewavas, E. (1935) — A synopsis of the cichlid fishes of Lake Nyasa (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 10, vol. 16) — original description of Haplochromis pleurostigma
  3. FishBase — Copadichromis pleurostigma (Trewavas, 1935)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Copadichromis pleurostigma (species record spid 37926; holotype BMNH 1935.6.14.1982, type locality Chilumba/Deep Bay)
  5. GBIF — Copadichromis pleurostigma (Trewavas, 1935)
  6. MalawiCichlids.com (M.K. Oliver) — Copadichromis pleurostigma species account