Diplotaxodon apogon "South East Arm"

South East ArmSOWTH EEST ARM (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 Diplotaxodon apogon account →

Specific to South East Arm

  • 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 Diplotaxodon apogon.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.6 in11.7 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth164–656 ft50–200 m
DietPelagic feeder (zooplankton & small fish)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderA few dozen eggs (genus-typical for a fish this size; not formally documented for this species)
Sexual dimorphismYesSexes look much alike outside breeding. Mature males darken overall to dark gray or black with a white margin on the dorsal fin (as in the near-identical D. ecclesi); an inconspicuous whitish lower jaw is linked to concealing the brooded clutch in open water.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The South East Arm population

Diplotaxodon apogon "South East Arm" is the South East Arm population of Diplotaxodon apogon, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Diplotaxodon apogon, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living South East Arm fish at malawi.si

About the species

Diplotaxodon apogon is a small, silvery, deep-water cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, described in 1998 from specimens trawled around 100 m (330 ft) down off Monkey Bay. It belongs to a poorly known pelagic radiation of haplochromines that lives in the lake's cold, dim offshore depths rather than on the photogenic rocky reefs that made Malawi famous. A large-eyed plankton feeder almost no one has kept in a tank, it is interesting precisely because it is so hard to tell apart from its congeners and so easy to overlook in the lake's commercial fishery.

Full Diplotaxodon apogon account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Diplotaxodon apogon "South East Arm"
  2. Diplotaxodon apogon - FishBase summary
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Diplotaxodon apogon (species record)
  4. FishBase Field Guide: Diplotaxodon apogon (diagnosis)
  5. Species in Diplotaxodon - FishBase identification list
  6. Turner & Stauffer (1998) original description (referenced via Stauffer et al. 2018, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington)