Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Gephyrochromis sp. "Zebroides Mbamba"

Gephyrochromis sp. "Zebroides Mbamba" "Mbamba Bay"

Mbamba Bay — m-BAHM-bah 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 Gephyrochromis sp. "Zebroides Mbamba" account →

Specific to Mbamba 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 Gephyrochromis sp. "Zebroides Mbamba".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in12 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth13–82 ft4–25 m
DietSand/periphyton comber or aufwuchs/invertebrate picker over sand (genus-typical; exact mode not documented for this form)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)Not documented for this form; genus-typical broods run roughly 25-40+ fry per congener reports
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNot documented beyond the defining dark vertical barring named in the trade name; no confirmed male-versus-female colour account is available.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mbamba Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Mbamba Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Gephyrochromis sp. "Zebroides Mbamba" is an undescribed, barred cichlid recorded at Mbamba Bay on the southern Tanzanian shore of Lake Malawi. Its trade name records a zebra-like flank barring pattern and its type locality, distinguishing it from at least one other separately named Gephyrochromis form collected at the same bay. It belongs to a small, poorly studied genus of sand-associated mbuna relatives — only Gephyrochromis moorii and Gephyrochromis lawsi carry formal descriptions — and has never itself been given a scientific name.

Full Gephyrochromis sp. "Zebroides Mbamba" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Gephyrochromis sp. "Zebroides Mbamba" "Mbamba Bay"
  2. malawi.si — Gephyrochromis species and locality database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Gephyrochromis genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; Gephyrochromis biology and southeastern-arm/Tanzanian locality forms)