Labeotropheus trewavasae "Kirondo"Red Top Trevawasae
Labeotropheus trewavasae (Boadzulu Island, Border, Chadagha, Charo, Chidunga Rocks, Chiloelo, Chilucha Reef, Chilumba, Chinyamwezi Island, Chiofu, Chirwa Island, Chitande Island, Gome, Higga Reef, Hongi Island, Hora Mhango, Jumbo Island, Katale Island, Kirondo, Likoma Island, Linganjala Reef, Lions Cove, Lumbaulo, Lumessi, Lundu, Lupingu, Lutara Reef, Magunga, Maison Reef, Makankha Rocks, Makokola Reef, Mala Point, Maleri Island, Manda, Mara Rocks, Masinje, Matambukira Rocks, Mdoka, Mdowa, Metangula, Minos Reef, Mitande Reef (Rocks), Mphanga Rocks, Mumbo Island, Nakantenga Island, Namalenje Island, Ndumbi Point, Ngkuyo Island, Ngwasi, Nkhata Bay, Nkhungu Point, Nkolongwe, Ntekete, Otter Island, Pombo Rocks, Puulu, Ruarwe, Sambia Reef, Taiwanee Reef, Thumbi West Island, Thundu, Tumbi Point, Tundu Rocks, Zimbawe Rock)
Kirondo — kee-ROHN-doh (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 Kirondo
- 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.
The Kirondo population
Labeotropheus trewavasae "Kirondo" is the Kirondo population of Labeotropheus trewavasae, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern 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 Kirondo 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
- malawi.si — Labeotropheus trewavasae "Kirondo"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Labeotropheus trewavasae (species record)
- FishBase — Labeotropheus trewavasae (Scrapermouth mbuna)
- Pauers & Phiri (2023) — Six New Species of Labeotropheus, Ichthyology & Herpetology
- Ribbink et al. (1983) — zoogeography, ecology and taxonomy of Labeotropheus (cited via MalawiCichlids.com)
- Ad Konings — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (genus Labeotropheus: colour morphs, sympatry with L. fuelleborni, depth, mouthbrooding)
- IUCN Red List — Labeotropheus trewavasae "Kirondo"