Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Diplotaxodon longimaxilla

Diplotaxodon longimaxilla "Nkhata Bay"

Nkhata Bay — n-KAH-tah BAY (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 longimaxilla account →

Specific to Nkhata Bay

  • 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 longimaxilla.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.5 in14 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth66–492 ft20–150 m
DietOpen-water feeder; elongated jaw and smaller eye (vs. D. macrops) suggest more piscivorous habits alongside zooplankton
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)Not documented; genus is notably low-fecundity, often 1–2 well-developed fry per brood in well-studied congeners
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical: ripe males expected to show a subdued, largely monochromatic black-and-white breeding pattern; females plain and silvery. Not documented in detail for this species.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Nkhata Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Diplotaxodon longimaxilla is a deep-water, open-water cichlid from Lake Malawi, named for an elongated upper jaw that sets it apart from the shorter-jawed, more strictly zooplankton-picking members of its genus. That longer maxilla, together with a proportionally smaller eye than its relative Diplotaxodon macrops, points to a more piscivorous lifestyle within a lineage otherwise built around straining plankton from open water. It is documented here from the lake's South East Arm.

Full Diplotaxodon longimaxilla account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Diplotaxodon longimaxilla "Nkhata Bay"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — online database (authority for valid fish names; genus Diplotaxodon, Trewavas 1935)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; genus Diplotaxodon and the deep-water twilight-zone cichlid community)