Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labidochromis sp. "Hora"

Labidochromis sp. "Hora" "Mbowe Island"

Mbowe Island — m-BOH-weh 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. "Hora" account →

Specific to Mbowe 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. "Hora".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth10–66 ft3–20 m
DietRock-associated aufwuchs grazer or invertebrate picker (genus-typical; exact mode not documented for this form)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)Not documented for this form; genus-typical broods run to a few dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismMinimalColour and dimorphism not documented for this form in the sources available; not fabricated here pending a published field account.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mbowe Island population

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

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

About the species

Labidochromis sp. "Hora" is an undescribed rock-dwelling cichlid recorded from Mbowe Island on Lake Malawi, an island already documented in the atlas for several other mbuna, including a locality form of Labidochromis caeruleus. It carries no authority, no year, and no FishBase entry, and the origin of its trade name “Hora” is not established in the sources consulted for this article.

Full Labidochromis sp. "Hora" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis sp. "Hora" "Mbowe 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 biology and Mbowe Island locality forms)