Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labeotropheus trewavasae

Labeotropheus trewavasae "Makokola Reef"

Makokola Reef — mah-koh-KOH-lah REEF (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 Makokola Reef

  • 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 Makokola Reef population

Labeotropheus trewavasae "Makokola Reef" is the Makokola Reef population of Labeotropheus trewavasae, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern 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 Makokola Reef 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 "Makokola Reef"
  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)