Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Copadichromis trimaculatus

Copadichromis trimaculatus "Gome"

Gome — GOH-meh (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 trimaculatus account →

Specific to Gome

  • 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 trimaculatus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7.7 in19.6 cm total length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.4–8.4alkaline
Depth82–98 ft25–30 m
DietOpen-water zooplanktivore (utaka)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderNot documented for this species; utaka-typical ~30-60 eggs (mean ~49 in the open-water congener C. chrysonotus, Smith 2000)
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males are yellow-bodied with a blue head and white-edged dorsal fin; females and juveniles are silvery with yellowish fins. Both sexes carry the three flank spots.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Gome population

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

Colour reference: living Gome fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Copadichromis trimaculatus, the three-spot utaka or "Malawi torpedo," is an open-water zooplankton feeder endemic to Lake Malawi. It belongs to the utaka — the silvery, free-swimming haplochromines that hang in shoals over the lake's offshore reefs, picking copepods and other plankton from the blue water with a remarkably protrusible mouth. The species takes both of its names from the row of three dark blotches along each flank, a mark it wears for life. Breeding males trade that silvery anonymity for a yellow body and steel-blue head, descend to a rocky ledge at 25 to 30 metres, and defend a spawning station to which ripe females come, mate, and depart to brood their eggs alone.

Full Copadichromis trimaculatus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Copadichromis trimaculatus "Gome"
  2. FishBase — Copadichromis trimaculatus (Verduya's hap)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Copadichromis trimaculatus (species record)
  4. malawi.si (Stuart M. Grant / M.K. Oliver database) — Copadichromis trimaculatus 'Gome'
  5. Cichlid Room Companion — genus Copadichromis (lists Haplochromis trimaculatus Iles, 1960 as valid)
  6. The ETYFish Project — Pseudocrenilabrinae: Copadichromis trimaculatus etymology