Diplotaxodon macrops "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 macrops 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 macrops.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.9 in12.5 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth249–722 ft76–220 m
DietDeep-water feeder on zooplankton & small fish
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderLow fecundity; typically 1–2 well-developed fry brooded per female
Sexual dimorphismYesRipe males turn dark/black-bodied with a white margin to the dorsal fin; females remain plain and silvery.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The South East Arm population

Diplotaxodon macrops "South East Arm" is the South East Arm population of Diplotaxodon macrops, 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 macrops, 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 macrops is a small, silvery, big-eyed cichlid that lives out its life in the dim offshore depths of Lake Malawi, far from the rocky shallows most aquarists picture when they think of the lake. Named for its conspicuously large eyes, it belongs to a poorly known deep-water lineage that schools over the open shelf and feeds on zooplankton in a world lit only by faint blue light. It is one of the lake's true "twilight zone" specialists, and almost nobody keeps it in a tank.

Full Diplotaxodon macrops account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Diplotaxodon macrops "South East Arm"
  2. Diplotaxodon macrops — FishBase summary
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Diplotaxodon macrops
  4. Diplotaxodon macrops Turner & Stauffer, 1998 — WoRMS / Marine Species Traits
  5. Diplotaxodon macrops Turner & Stauffer, 1998 (new species) — Plazi TreatmentBank
  6. Turner & Stauffer (1998), Three new deep water cichlid fishes of the genus Diplotaxodon from Lake Malawi — cited via FishBase ref. 30390