Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis sp. "Kawanga No-spot"

Copadichromis sp. "Kawanga No-spot" "Undu Reef"

Undu Reef — OON-doo 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. "Kawanga No-spot" account →

Specific to Undu 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. "Kawanga No-spot".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–82 ft5–25 m
DietZooplanktivore, picking copepods and other small crustaceans from the open water column
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; utaka clutches generally larger than similarly sized mbuna
Sexual dimorphismYesNot documented in fine detail for this population; genus-typical pattern is breeding males deeper blue and more intensely coloured than females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Undu Reef population

Copadichromis sp. "Kawanga No-spot" "Undu Reef" is the Undu Reef population of Copadichromis sp. "Kawanga No-spot", 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 sp. "Kawanga No-spot", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

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

About the species

Copadichromis sp. "Kawanga No-spot" is an undescribed open-water cichlid from Lake Malawi, recorded at Londo Bay on the Mozambican shore and Undu Reef in Tanzanian waters — a wide span suggesting a form found across open water rather than tied to a single reef. It has no formal scientific name. The trade tag identifies it as lacking the small blotch, or "spot," that some related Copadichromis carry on the dorsal fin or flank, distinguishing it from similarly built utaka that do show that marking. It belongs to Copadichromis, the genus of schooling, plankton-feeding haplochromines known locally and in the trade as "utaka," one of Lake Malawi's most economically important fish groups as well as a mainstay of the aquarium hobby.

Full Copadichromis sp. "Kawanga No-spot" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis sp. "Kawanga No-spot" "Undu Reef"
  2. malawi.si — Copadichromis species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Copadichromis genus and utaka taxonomy (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)