Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Diplotaxodon sp. "Macrops North"

Diplotaxodon sp. "Macrops North" "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. "Macrops North" 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. "Macrops North".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in12.5 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth249–722 ft76–220 m
DietDeep-water zooplanktivore (complex-typical; insect larvae, small crustaceans and diatoms)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, complex-typical)Not documented for this form; the wider genus is notably low-fecundity, often only 1-2 well-developed fry per brood in better-studied congeners
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNot documented for this form; described Diplotaxodon macrops males turn dark/near-black with a white dorsal-fin margin when ripe, while females stay plain and silvery.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

Diplotaxodon sp. "Macrops North" "Nkhata Bay" is the Nkhata Bay population of Diplotaxodon sp. "Macrops North", 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. "Macrops North", 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. "Macrops North" is an undescribed deep-water cichlid recorded off Nkhata Bay, in the northern half of Lake Malawi. Its trade name ties it to Diplotaxodon macrops, a described big-eyed offshore species whose name simply means "large eyes," while flagging that this northern population has not been confirmed as the same fish. Diplotaxodon macrops itself turns out to be a complex of closely related, genetically distinct forms rather than one uniform population, and "Macrops North" is one more geographically defined piece of that unresolved picture, living out its life in the dim, blue-lit depths well offshore rather than on any rocky reef.

Full Diplotaxodon sp. "Macrops North" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Diplotaxodon sp. "Macrops North" "Nkhata Bay"
  2. malawi.si — Diplotaxodon species and locality database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Diplotaxodon genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Genner, M.J. et al. (2007). Reproductive isolation among deep-water cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi differing in monochromatic male breeding dress. Mol. Ecol. 16:651-662
  5. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; deep-water and pelagic Diplotaxodon)