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

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Mara" "Mara Rocks"

Mara Rocks — MAH-rah 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 Mara" account →

Specific to Mara 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 Mara".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
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 Mara Rocks population

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

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

About the species

Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Mara" is an undescribed rock-dwelling cichlid recorded from Mara Rocks on Malawi’s lake shore, a reef already documented for several other Malawi cichlids. Its trade name pairs “Gigas,” after the large-bodied Labidochromis gigas (Lewis, 1982), with the locality itself, 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 Mara" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis sp. "Gigas Mara" "Mara Rocks"
  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)