Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis sp. "Azureus Jalo"

Copadichromis sp. "Azureus Jalo" "Jalo Reef"

Jalo Reef — JAH-loh REEF (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 sp. "Azureus Jalo" account →

Specific to Jalo Reef

  • 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 sp. "Azureus Jalo".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.5 in14.6 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth33–108 ft10–33 m
DietOpen-water zooplanktivore (utaka)
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this population; utaka-typical, likely a few dozen eggs per brood
Sexual dimorphismYesNot documented in detail for this specific population. The trade name links it to Copadichromis azureus, whose dominant males turn brilliant azure-blue with a blue breast and yellow-edged anal fin, while females stay plain beige-silver with three dark flank spots. Whether the Jalo Reef fish shows the same pattern is not independently confirmed.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Jalo Reef population

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

Colour reference: living Jalo Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Copadichromis sp. "Azureus Jalo" is an undescribed utaka documented from Jalo Reef, in the southern half of Lake Malawi. It has no formal scientific name. The trade tag borrows the epithet of Copadichromis azureus, the blue utaka whose dominant males turn a brilliant metallic azure at spawning time, and pairs it with the collecting reef. Whether this Jalo Reef population is that species, or a closely related, undescribed look-alike, is not established here. Like the rest of the genus it is an open-water zooplankton feeder, one of many locality-based Copadichromis forms that circulate in the hobby years or decades ahead of any formal taxonomic resolution.

Full Copadichromis sp. "Azureus Jalo" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis sp. "Azureus Jalo" "Jalo Reef"
  2. malawi.si — Copadichromis species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Copadichromis genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)