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↑ Collection form of Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Mdoka"

Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Mdoka" "Mdoka"

Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Mdoka" (Mdoka)

Mdoka — m-DOH-kah (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. "Elongatus Mdoka" account →

Specific to Mdoka

  • 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. "Elongatus Mdoka".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesCynotilapia afradescribed as Hemichromis afer Günther 1894
Scientific size3.5 in9 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
Depth10–66 ft3–20 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.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodera few dozen eggs (genus-typical)
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical expectation: males show fuller breeding colour and brighter fin edging than females; the specific pattern of this form is not documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mdoka population

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

Colour reference: living Mdoka fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Mdoka" is an undescribed member of the Cynotilapia sp. "elongatus" species complex, a group of small mbuna set apart from typical Cynotilapia by a noticeably more slender, elongate body, recorded here from Mdoka on Lake Malawi's northern Malawian shore. The "elongatus" complex is one of several loose groupings within Cynotilapia that fragment into local colour and shape variants named for their collection point, and Mdoka — better known in the hobby as the type locality of an unrelated, strikingly patterned Maylandia (Metriaclima) population — also holds its own distinct, more slender Cynotilapia population.

Full Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Mdoka" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Mdoka" "Mdoka"
  2. malawi.si — Cynotilapia (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; Cynotilapia "elongatus" complex)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Cynotilapia (genus profile)
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