Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black"

Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black" "Chinyamwezi Island"

Chinyamwezi Island — cheen-yahm-WEH-zee EYE-land (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 Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black" account →

Specific to Chinyamwezi Island

  • 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 Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–131 ft3–40 m
DietPicks loose diatoms, filamentous algae, and fine detritus from rock and sand using the genus's diagnostic unicuspid teeth, rather than scraping bound algal turf; genus-typical, no population-specific study published.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodera few dozen eggs (genus-typical)
Sexual dimorphismYesNot documented in full detail. The trade name indicates a dark blue-to-black breeding male; females presumed plain silvery-grey to brownish, per genus pattern.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chinyamwezi Island population

Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black" "Chinyamwezi Island" is the Chinyamwezi Island population of Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black", a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Chinyamwezi Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black" is an undescribed dwarf mbuna recorded at Chinyamwezi Island in the south-eastern arm of Lake Malawi, named for the dark blue-and-black breeding colouration of males. Chinyamwezi Island and the adjoining Chinyankwazi Island already carry another well-documented undescribed Cynotilapia population, Cynotilapia sp. "Chinyankwazi", and "Blue Black" is recorded from the same island group as a separate trade name; whether it is a distinct population or another name applied to the same fish has not been resolved in the published literature, and this account treats it as its own open-nomenclature entity.

Full Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Cynotilapia sp. "Blue Black" "Chinyamwezi Island"
  2. malawi.si — Cynotilapia (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Ribbink, A.J., Marsh, B.A., Ribbink, A.C. & Sharp, B.J. 1983 — A preliminary survey of the cichlid fishes of rocky habitats in Lake Malawi (S. Afr. J. Zool. 18(3):149–310)
  4. Kassam, D.D., Sato, T., Yamaoka, K. & Ambali, A.J.D. 2005 — Genetic diversity within Cynotilapia and its phylogenetic position among Lake Malawi's mbuna cichlids (African Journal of Biotechnology 4(9):932–940)
  5. Cichlid Room Companion — Cynotilapia sp. 'chinyankwazi' species profile (context for the Chinyamwezi/Chinyankwazi island group)