Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chidunga"

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chidunga" "Chidunga Rocks"

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chidunga" (Chidunga Rocks)

Chidunga Rocks — chee-DOON-gah 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 sp. "Gigas Chidunga" account →

Specific to Chidunga 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 sp. "Gigas Chidunga".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesLabidochromis vellicansTrewavas 1935
Scientific size4.5 in12 cm total 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, with some invertebrates (as documented for the closely related Labidochromis gigas)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, as in L. gigas)Not documented for this form; L. gigas broods run to roughly a couple of dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesPresumed gigas-group-typical: territorial males bright iridescent blue with dark flank bars, black snout and interorbital bar; females and non-displaying males plain olive-brown. Not separately confirmed for this exact form.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chidunga Rocks population

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

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

About the species

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chidunga" is an undescribed rock-dwelling cichlid recorded at Chidunga Rocks on the Malawian shore of Lake Malawi. Its trade name places it within the so-called "gigas group" — deep-bodied Labidochromis forms named for their resemblance to Labidochromis gigas, the largest species in the genus — while its locality sits outside the tightly documented two-island endemic range (Likoma and Chizumulu) of the true, described species, meaning it cannot simply be assumed to be Labidochromis gigas.

Full Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chidunga" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chidunga" "Chidunga Rocks"
  2. malawi.si — Labidochromis species and locality database
  3. 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 of L. gigas and the gigas group)
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