Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Gephyrochromis moorii

Gephyrochromis moorii "Narungu"

Narungu — nah-ROON-goo (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 Narungu

  • 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BreedingMaternal (ovophilous) mouthbrooder; polygynous, no pair bondExact wild figure unpublished; genus-typical for Malawi mbuna ~20–50+ eggs; captive reports cite 50+ fry (community/anecdotal)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 Narungu population

Gephyrochromis moorii "Narungu" is the Narungu population of Gephyrochromis moorii, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the south-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 Narungu 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 "Narungu"
  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)