Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Dimidiochromis compressiceps

Dimidiochromis compressiceps "Machili Island"

Machili Island — mah-CHEE-lee 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 Dimidiochromis compressiceps account →

Specific to Machili 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 Dimidiochromis compressiceps.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2019
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size9.1 in23 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth0–131 ft0–40 m
DietAmbush piscivore (small fish; also fry/invertebrates)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~30 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males flush electric blue with orange-edged dorsal/anal fins and a larger anal fin bearing yellow-orange egg spots; females and non-dominant males stay silver (or gold in the Chizumulu/Likoma form).
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Machili Island population

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

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

About the species

Dimidiochromis compressiceps, the Malawi eyebiter, is a knife-thin, silvery predator that hangs head-down in the Vallisneria meadows of Lake Malawi and ambushes small fish. Its lurid common name comes from a single 1966 observation of fish eyes in wild stomachs — a finding that Ad Konings notes was never repeated in the lake, even though aquarists periodically report the behavior in tanks. The truth behind the name is more interesting than the legend: this is a fish built almost entirely around concealment and a lunging, binocular strike.

Full Dimidiochromis compressiceps account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Dimidiochromis compressiceps "Machili Island"
  2. FishBase — Dimidiochromis compressiceps (Malawi eyebiter)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Paratilapia/Dimidiochromis compressiceps (species record)
  4. GBIF — Dimidiochromis compressiceps (occurrence and taxon record)
  5. iNaturalist — Malawi eyebiter (Dimidiochromis compressiceps)
  6. Konings, A. — Exploring Lake Malawi: The Reefs at Chizumulu Island (Cichlid Press / Cichlid Room Companion)