Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis trewavasae

Copadichromis trewavasae "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 trewavasae 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 trewavasae.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.1 in10.5 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth33–98 ft10–30 m
DietOpen-water zooplankton picker
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder; males build a display bower on a rock surface (lek-type)undocumented; utaka of this size lay a few dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesStrongly dimorphic in breeding dress: males develop a black belly, a blue-to-ivory blaze along the dorsum and tail, and orange-red median/pelvic fins; females and non-breeding fish are plain silvery-grey.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Makonde population

Copadichromis trewavasae "Makonde" is the Makonde population of Copadichromis trewavasae, 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 trewavasae, 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 trewavasae is a small, plankton-feeding cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, one of the lake's many utaka and a member of the genus's mbenji group. Unlike the open-water utaka that fishermen net in huge shoals, it keeps to the rough seam where sand meets rock, and breeding males build their display bower against a boulder — a "rock kadango" rather than a sand-spawner. In the hobby it is sold under the trade name "Ivory Head Mloto" or "Mloto Likoma," which causes no end of confusion with the genuinely different Copadichromis mloto.

Full Copadichromis trewavasae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis trewavasae "Makonde"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Copadichromis trewavasae (CAS)
  3. FishBase — Copadichromis trewavasae summary
  4. malawi.si — Copadichromis trewavasae (M.K. Oliver / Konings Malawi cichlid database; diagnosis, distribution, mbenji group)
  5. Konings, A. 1999. Descriptions of three new Copadichromis species (Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi. Trop. Fish Hobbyist 47(9):62–84 (via ResearchGate)
  6. Taxonomic investigation of the zooplanktivorous Lake Malawi utaka (PMC)