Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Goldcrest"

Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Goldcrest" "Makonde"

Makonde — mah-KOHN-deh (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. "Mloto Goldcrest" account →

Specific to Makonde

  • 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. "Mloto Goldcrest".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)slightly hardup to 179 ppm
Depth66–131 ft20–40 m
DietOpen-water zooplanktivore (utaka)
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder; bower-buildingnot documented for this population or the wider complex; likely a few dozen eggs, genus-typical for a utaka of this size
Sexual dimorphismYesNot documented in exhaustive detail for this population, but the trade name follows the same descriptive convention as 'Fire-Crest Mloto' and 'Ivory Head Mloto,' pointing to a gold-toned marking, likely on the dorsal fin, in breeding males; females are expected to remain plain silvery-grey per the wider mloto pattern.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Makonde population

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

Colour reference: living Makonde fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Goldcrest" is an undescribed utaka documented from Makonde, on the Tanzanian shore of Lake Malawi. Its trade name follows the same descriptive pattern as "Fire-Crest Mloto" and "Ivory Head Mloto" — trade tags built on Copadichromis mloto, a species whose true identity went unconfirmed for nearly sixty years and was only resolved by genomic study in 2023. Whether this Makonde population is Copadichromis mloto itself, or one of the several related trade forms that recent research flagged as possibly undescribed, is not established.

Full Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Goldcrest" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Goldcrest" "Makonde"
  2. malawi.si — Copadichromis species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Copadichromis genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Copadichromis mloto (species profile; the related complex)
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)