Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis sp. "Virginalis Kajose"

Copadichromis sp. "Virginalis Kajose" "Kirondo"

Kirondo — kee-ROHN-doh (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. "Virginalis Kajose" account →

Specific to Kirondo

  • 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. "Virginalis Kajose".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7 in18 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–49 ft3–15 m
DietZooplanktivore, picking copepods and other small crustaceans from the open water column
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; may run larger than "Virginalis Gold" given its larger adult size
Sexual dimorphismYesVirginalis-complex males typically dark-bodied with a pale dorsal band and anal-fin egg-spots in breeding colour; females plainer and more silvery. Not independently confirmed for this specific population.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kirondo population

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

Colour reference: living Kirondo fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Copadichromis sp. "Virginalis Kajose" is an undescribed open-water cichlid from Lake Malawi, recorded in this account from Kirondo and Nkanda in the far north of the Tanzanian shore. It has no formal scientific name. The trade tag places it in the "virginalis" colour complex, a group of similarly patterned schooling Copadichromis found at scattered points around the lake, several of which are confusable with one another despite differing markedly in size and depth preference. Ad Konings's field notes describe a "Virginalis Kajose," also known as "Gome Virginalis," as a distinctly larger, shallower-water relative of the smaller "Virginalis Gold" with which it is frequently confused — a useful caution for anyone trying to sort out this trade name in the hobby.

Full Copadichromis sp. "Virginalis Kajose" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis sp. "Virginalis Kajose" "Kirondo"
  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. — Cichlids Yearbook, Volume 6 (Cichlid Press; field account of the virginalis colour complex, incl. "Virginalis Kajose"/"Gome Virginalis" vs. "Virginalis Gold")