Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Gephyrochromis moorii

Gephyrochromis moorii "Msuli Point"

Msuli Point — m-SOO-lee POYNT (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 Gephyrochromis moorii account →

Specific to Msuli Point

  • 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 Gephyrochromis moorii.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.7 in12 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth20–82 ft6–25 m
DietSediment and periphyton comber — scoops loose sand aufwuchs with comb-like teeth
BreedingMaternal (ovophilous) mouthbrooder; polygynous, no pair bondExact wild figure unpublished; genus-typical for Malawi mbuna ~20–50+ eggs; captive reports cite 50+ fry (community/anecdotal)
Sexual dimorphismYesDominant males develop more intense steel-blue to slate-grey coloration; females and subdominant males are more cryptic grey-brown. Egg spots present on male anal fin.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Msuli Point population

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

Colour reference: living Msuli Point fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Gephyrochromis moorii is a small, sand-dwelling mbuna endemic to Lake Malawi and the type species of its genus, placed by George Boulenger in 1901 on material collected by the British biologist J. E. S. Moore — who gave the fish its name — during expeditions to the African Great Lakes. It lives exclusively over open sand in groups of three to seven, combing loose sediment and periphyton with its distinctive comb-like teeth, a feeding style that sets it apart from the rock-grazing majority of the mbuna. Quiet and rarely encountered in the hobby, it rewards keepers willing to replicate its open sandy world.

Full Gephyrochromis moorii account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Gephyrochromis moorii "Msuli Point"
  2. Boulenger, G.A. (1901) — 'Diagnoses of new fishes discovered by Mr J.E.S. Moore in lakes Tanganyika and Kivu', Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 7) vol. 7: 1–6
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Gephyrochromis moorii Boulenger 1901 (holotype BMNH 1906.9.6.121; type locality corrected by Trewavas 1946)
  4. FishBase — Gephyrochromis moorii (summary page)
  5. GBIF — Gephyrochromis moorii Boulenger, 1901 (taxon key 2370836; holotype NHMUK ZOO 1906.9.6.121)
  6. The ETYFish Project — Cichlidae: Gephyrochromis / moorii etymology (Scharpf & Lazara 2018)