Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia

Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia "Likoma Island"

Likoma Island — lee-KOH-mah EYE-land (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 Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia account →

Specific to Likoma Island

  • 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 Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size8.7 in22 cm total length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.4–8.4alkaline
Depth23–246 ft7–75 m
DietPiscivore — hunts small cichlids in pairs or groups
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~30–80 eggs (genus-typical; not formally published for this species)
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males develop blue-suffused nuptial colouration with coloured fins; females and non-dominant males are tan-grey with the diagnostic dark tail-stripe.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Likoma Island population

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

Colour reference: living Likoma Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia is a medium-to-large haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, distinguished by a bold dark stripe confined to the rear half of its flanks and caudal peduncle — the 'tail-stripe' its name describes. It is a piscivore of the sand-rock interface, hunting in small groups over shallow sandy grounds while breeding males erect conical sand-castle spawning mounds near rocky reefs. As the type species of its genus, it anchors the small Hemitaeniochromis clade, and its lake-wide distribution from shallow margins down to depths beyond 70 metres makes it one of the more wide-ranging Malawian predators.

Full Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia "Likoma Island"
  2. FishBase — Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia (Regan, 1922)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia, species record (online version, updated 19 May 2026)
  4. GBIF — Hemitaeniochromis urotaenia (Regan, 1922), taxon key 2372958
  5. Regan, C.T. (1922) — original description: 'The cichlid fishes of Lake Nyassa', Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1921 (pt 4): 675–727, fig. 11
  6. Eccles, D.H. & Trewavas, E. (1989) — Malawian Cichlid Fishes: the Classification of some Haplochromine Genera (Lake Fish Movies, Herten) — genus erection, lectotype designation, diagnosis of H. urotaenia p. 71