Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Ndumbi"

Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Ndumbi" "Ndumbi Rocks"

Ndumbi Rocks — n-DOOM-bee ROKS (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 Ndumbi" account →

Specific to Ndumbi Rocks

  • 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 Ndumbi".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
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 Ndumbi Rocks population

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

Colour reference: living Ndumbi Rocks fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Ndumbi" is an undescribed member of the Cynotilapia sp. "elongatus" species complex, a group of small mbuna distinguished from typical, more compact Cynotilapia by a noticeably slimmer, elongate body. This population is recorded from Ndumbi Rocks in the south-central part of Lake Malawi, near Likoma Island — the same general area that also holds the separately named, black-coloured Cynotilapia sp. "Ndumbi", a member of the genus's standard body-shape group rather than the elongate one. The two share a locality but are treated in the trade as distinct forms.

Full Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Ndumbi" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Cynotilapia sp. "Elongatus Ndumbi" "Ndumbi Rocks"
  2. malawi.si — Cynotilapia (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Konings, A. — Cichlids Yearbook, Volume 2 (Cichlid Press; Ribbink and coworkers' rocky-shore survey of the Ndumbi Rocks Cynotilapia population)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Cynotilapia (genus profile)