Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis sp. "Makanjila"

Copadichromis sp. "Makanjila" "Makanjila Rocks"

Makanjila Rocks — mah-kahn-JEE-lah ROKS (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. "Makanjila" account →

Specific to Makanjila Rocks

  • 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. "Makanjila".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth26–82 ft8–25 m
DietOpen-water zooplanktivore (utaka)
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this population; utaka-typical, likely a few dozen eggs per brood
Sexual dimorphismYesNot documented for this form; genus-typical utaka dichromatism is expected, in which dominant males develop stronger colour for breeding while females remain plain and silvery.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Makanjila Rocks population

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

Colour reference: living Makanjila Rocks fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Copadichromis sp. "Makanjila" is an undescribed utaka documented from Makanjila Rocks, in the southeastern arm of Lake Malawi near the Mozambique border. It has no formal scientific name. Like several other Copadichromis trade names, "Makanjila" is a plain locality tag: the rocks are a well-documented site for numerous mbuna forms in other genera, and this population is simply the open-water utaka recorded from the same stretch of reef.

Full Copadichromis sp. "Makanjila" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis sp. "Makanjila" "Makanjila Rocks"
  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)