Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labidochromis gigas

Labidochromis gigas "Chiwi Rocks"

Labidochromis gigas (Chiwi Rocks, Machili Island, Membe Island, Mitande Reef (Rocks), Ndumbi Rocks)

Chiwi Rocks — CHEE-wee ROKS (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 Labidochromis gigas account →

Specific to Chiwi Rocks

  • 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 Labidochromis gigas.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesLabidochromis vellicansTrewavas 1935
Scientific size4 in10 cm standard length
Temperature75–79 °F24–26 °C
pH7.5–8.3alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth16–72 ft5–22 m
DietAlgivore (filamentous algae picked from rock pockets; some invertebrates)
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodersmall, ~a couple of dozen eggs (typical of the genus)
Sexual dimorphismYesTerritorial males are bright iridescent blue with ~7 bold dark flank bars, a black snout and interorbital bar; females and non-displaying males are plain olive-brown with dimmer barring.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chiwi Rocks population

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

Colour reference: living Chiwi Rocks fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labidochromis gigas is the giant of an otherwise diminutive genus — a deep-bodied, electric-blue mbuna that reaches around 4.5 in where most of its relatives top out at 6 to 8. It is a rock-dwelling endemic of just two small islands in Lake Malawi, Likoma and Chizumulu, and despite belonging to a genus famous for forceps-jawed invertebrate picking, gigas earns its living mainly as an algae-pincher, working filamentous turf out of rock pockets that few other grazers can reach.

Full Labidochromis gigas account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis gigas "Chiwi Rocks"
  2. FishBase — Labidochromis gigas (Lewis, 1982)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Labidochromis gigas (species record; holotype BMNH 1981.1.9.92; type locality Mbako Bay, Likoma Island, 13°01'S 34°43'E)
  4. GBIF — Labidochromis gigas Lewis, 1982
  5. Lewis, D. S. C. 1982 — A revision of the genus Labidochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 75: 189-265 (original description, p. 247)
  6. M. K. Oliver — The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi, Africa (malawicichlids.com; Labidochromis genus/taxonomy reference)
  7. IUCN Red List — Labidochromis gigas "Chiwi Rocks"
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