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

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chilumba" "Katale Island"

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chilumba" (Katale Island)

Katale Island — kah-TAH-leh 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 sp. "Gigas Chilumba" account →

Specific to Katale 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 sp. "Gigas Chilumba".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesLabidochromis vellicansTrewavas 1935
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth26–98 ft8–30 m
DietRock-associated invertebrate picker and aufwuchs grazer, gigas-typical (exact mode not documented for this form)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)Not documented for this form; the large-bodied gigas group is generally credited with somewhat larger clutches than smaller Labidochromis
Sexual dimorphismMinimalColour has not been documented for this form in the sources consulted; not fabricated here pending a published field account.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Katale Island population

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

Colour reference: living Katale Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chilumba" is an undescribed rock-dwelling cichlid recorded from Katale Island on Lake Malawi. Its trade name pairs “Gigas,” after the large-bodied Labidochromis gigas (Lewis, 1982), with “Chilumba,” the northern Malawian port town nearest its collection grounds, and signals that hobbyists regard this population as gigas-like in build rather than a confirmed population of that species. It carries no authority, no year, and no FishBase entry.

Full Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chilumba" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Chilumba" "Katale Island"
  2. malawi.si — Labidochromis species and locality database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Labidochromis genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; Labidochromis gigas biology and the genus's gigas-group trade forms)
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