Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labeotropheus trewavasae

Labeotropheus trewavasae "Gome"

Gome — GOH-meh (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 Labeotropheus trewavasae account →

Specific to Gome

  • 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 Labeotropheus trewavasae.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.6 in11.7 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth0–131 ft0–40 m
DietScrapes aufwuchs (algae) from rock
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~10-40 eggs (captive broods commonly ~19-25 fry)
Sexual dimorphismYesStrongly dimorphic and polymorphic: males typically barred blue (red/orange dorsal in southern forms); females predominantly orange-blotch (OB), reaching ~95% frequency at some sites. Males carry distinct anal-fin egg-spots; faint or absent in females. Rare blue-blotch 'marmalade cat' males occur.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Gome population

Labeotropheus trewavasae "Gome" is the Gome population of Labeotropheus trewavasae, 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 Labeotropheus trewavasae, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Gome fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labeotropheus trewavasae is a slender, rock-grazing cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, one of the lake's most recognizable mbuna thanks to a fleshy, overhanging snout that sits above a downturned mouth. That odd profile is a feeding tool: it lets the fish shear filamentous algae off rock faces using leverage rather than brute force. The species is famous among hobbyists for its riot of geographic color forms, including orange-blotch females and the prized, very rare blue-blotch males known as "marmalade cats."

Full Labeotropheus trewavasae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labeotropheus trewavasae "Gome"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Labeotropheus trewavasae (species record)
  3. FishBase — Labeotropheus trewavasae (Scrapermouth mbuna)
  4. Pauers & Phiri (2023) — Six New Species of Labeotropheus, Ichthyology & Herpetology
  5. Ribbink et al. (1983) — zoogeography, ecology and taxonomy of Labeotropheus (cited via MalawiCichlids.com)
  6. Ad Konings — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (genus Labeotropheus: colour morphs, sympatry with L. fuelleborni, depth, mouthbrooding)