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

Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Reef" "Maison Reef"

Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Reef" (Higga Reef, Maison Reef)

Maison Reef — mah-EE-sohn 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. "Mloto Reef" account →

Specific to Maison 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. "Mloto Reef".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesCopadichromis quadrimaculatusdescribed as Haplochromis quadrimaculatus Regan 1922
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 446 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
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 more intensely coloured than females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Maison Reef population

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

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

About the species

Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Reef" is an undescribed open-water cichlid from Lake Malawi, recorded at Higga Reef in Tanzanian waters and Maison Reef on the Malawian shore. It has no formal scientific name. The trade tag references "Mloto," a reef name long associated with schooling Copadichromis in the northern lake; this population is traded under that reference as a distinct, still-unnamed form. It belongs to Copadichromis, the genus of schooling, plankton-feeding haplochromines known locally and in the trade as "utaka."

Full Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Reef" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis sp. "Mloto Reef" "Maison 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)
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