Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labidochromis mylodon

Labidochromis mylodon "Thumbi West Island"

Thumbi West Island — TOOM-bee WEST EYE-land (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 mylodon account →

Specific to Thumbi West Island

  • 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 mylodon.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth3–66 ft1–20 m
DietMicro-predator/omnivore — picks small invertebrates from rock Aufwuchs (genus-typical; trophic level ~2.7); dentition comparatively robust
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (polygynous; inferred from genus)Unrecorded for this species; small Labidochromis typically ~10–30 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesMbuna-typical: males brighter with anal-fin egg-spots, females plainer.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Thumbi West Island population

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

Colour reference: living Thumbi West Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labidochromis mylodon is a small mbuna endemic to Lake Malawi, described in 1982 by Digby Lewis from the shores of Mumbo Island near Cape Maclear, in the lake's southwestern arm. Its name means 'molar tooth,' a reference to the stouter, more robust dentition that sets it slightly apart within the otherwise fine-toothed, forceps-jawed genus of the famous 'yellow lab' (Labidochromis caeruleus). Known with certainty only from around Mumbo Island, it is one of the most localised members of its genus and is seldom encountered in the aquarium hobby.

Full Labidochromis mylodon account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis mylodon "Thumbi West Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Labidochromis mylodon Lewis, 1982 (valid name, authorship, type locality, Mumbo Island)
  3. FishBase — Labidochromis mylodon Lewis, 1982 (SpecCode 2337; size, distribution, ecology)
  4. Lewis, D.S.C., 1982 — A revision of the genus Labidochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 75(3):189–265 (original description)
  5. Maréchal, C., 1991 — Labidochromis, in Check-list of the Freshwater Fishes of Africa (CLOFFA) vol. 4, pp. 210–217
  6. The ETYFish Project — Cichlidae: Labidochromis (etymology of genus and epithets)