Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Iodotropheus sprengerae

Iodotropheus sprengerae "Chinyankwazi Island"Lavender Cichlid

Iodotropheus sprengerae (Chinyamwezi Island, Chinyankwazi Island, Makokola Reef)

Chinyankwazi Island — cheen-yahn-KWAH-zee 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 Iodotropheus sprengerae account →

Specific to Chinyankwazi 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 Iodotropheus sprengerae.

IUCNNEAR THREATENED · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesIodotropheus sprengeraeOliver & Loiselle 1972 · this species
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 179 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth10–131 ft3–40 m
DietGrazes aufwuchs from rock
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder5-60 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesWeak — both sexes are rusty orange-brown; dominant males develop lavender-to-violet flanks, a more pronounced forehead hump, longer fins and anal-fin egg-spots.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chinyankwazi Island population

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

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

About the species

Iodotropheus sprengerae, the rusty cichlid, is a small rock-dwelling mbuna found only at a handful of islands and reefs in the southeastern arm of Lake Malawi. Drab at first glance, an adult male catches the light as a wash of rust-orange over lavender-blue flanks, and the species' even temperament has made it one of the gateway African cichlids for the hobby. It is also a biogeographic oddball: the sole widely accepted member of its genus, with a natural range you could circle on a map in a few square kilometers.

Full Iodotropheus sprengerae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Iodotropheus sprengerae "Chinyankwazi Island"
  2. Iodotropheus sprengerae — Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, California Academy of Sciences)
  3. Iodotropheus sprengerae (Lavender mbuna) — FishBase
  4. Iodotropheus sprengerae — GBIF species record
  5. Konings, A. Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat — Iodotropheus / Labidochromis group account (max. size, non-territorial behavior, husbandry)
  6. Oliver, M.K. & Loiselle, P.V. (1972). A new genus and species of cichlid of the mbuna group from Lake Malawi. Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines 85(3-4):309-320
  7. IUCN Red List — Iodotropheus sprengerae "Chinyankwazi Island"
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