Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Diplotaxodon sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic"

Diplotaxodon sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic" "Nkhata Bay"

Diplotaxodon sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic" (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 sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic" 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 sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesDiplotaxodon argenteusTrewavas 1935
Scientific size6 in15 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth0–722 ft0–220 m
DietPelagic feeder on small fish and zooplankton (comparable to D. limnothrissa; genus-typical).
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderNot confirmed for this form; D. limnothrissa carries very low fecundity, typically only 1–2 large (~3 cm TL) young per brooding female
Sexual dimorphismYesNo body-shape dimorphism between sexes; distinguishing field mark is black pelvic fins, a different marking from both the nominal species' yellow-white dorsal blaze and the black-dorsal-finned Tukombo form.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

Diplotaxodon sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic" "Nkhata Bay" is the Nkhata Bay population of Diplotaxodon sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic", 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 sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic", 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 sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic" is an undescribed pelagic cichlid recorded from open water off Nkhata Bay on Lake Malawi's Malawian shore. Its trade name draws a comparison to the formally described Diplotaxodon limnothrissa — named for its resemblance to the sardine-like clupeid Limnothrissa miodon — and adds a field mark that sets it apart: black pelvic fins, distinguishing it in the water from both the nominal species and from the separately recorded sp. "Limnothrissa Blackdorsal" form found elsewhere in the lake. The comparison signals resemblance, not identity; its precise relationship to D. limnothrissa has not been established.

Full Diplotaxodon sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Diplotaxodon sp. "Limnothrissa Blackpelvic" "Nkhata Bay"
  2. malawi.si — Diplotaxodon species and locality database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Diplotaxodon genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Turner, G.F. — Description of D. limnothrissa (Journal of Fish Biology, 1994); genus-wide biology reused via Fishes of Malawi
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; deep-water and pelagic Diplotaxodon)
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