Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labidochromis maculicauda

Labidochromis maculicauda "Nkhata Bay"

Nkhata Bay — n-KAH-tah BAY (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 maculicauda account →

Specific to Nkhata Bay

  • 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 maculicauda.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.5 in6.4 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth7–39 ft2–12 m
DietPicks micro-invertebrates from rock crevices
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~12–24 fry (genus-typical; not directly documented for this species)
Sexual dimorphismYesSubtle: breeding males may show a dark-blue cast or appear almost black; females plainer. Many wild populations show little color difference and small fish are hard to sex.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

Labidochromis maculicauda "Nkhata Bay" is the Nkhata Bay population of Labidochromis maculicauda, 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 maculicauda, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Nkhata Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labidochromis maculicauda is a small, narrow-jawed mbuna from the rocky shores of Lake Malawi, one of the cave-dwelling cichlids that pluck insect larvae from cracks in the rock with forceps-like teeth. Described by Digby Lewis in 1982, its separation from the genus's type species, Labidochromis vellicans, has occasionally been debated, but FishBase, GBIF, and the IUCN all treat it as a valid species in its own right. It is also a fish of contradictions in the trade — among the more familiar Labidochromis names to hobbyists, yet genuinely scarce and seldom seen by divers in the lake itself.

Full Labidochromis maculicauda account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis maculicauda "Nkhata Bay"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Labidochromis vellicans / maculicauda (Lewis 1982)
  3. FishBase — Labidochromis maculicauda Lewis, 1982
  4. GBIF — Labidochromis maculicauda Lewis, 1982
  5. ITIS — Labidochromis maculicauda report
  6. Lewis, D.S.C. 1982. A revision of the genus Labidochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 75:189–265