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

Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba" "Mbamba Bay"

Mbamba Bay — m-BAHM-bah BAY (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. "Mbamba" account →

Specific to Mbamba Bay

  • 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. "Mbamba".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 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 Mbamba Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Mbamba Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba" is an undescribed rock-dwelling cichlid known from Mbamba Bay and Ngkuyo Island on the Tanzanian shore of Lake Malawi, an area of the lake's southeastern arm that has produced several distinctively coloured, informally named Labidochromis over the decades. It carries no scientific name and no describing author — only the trade name taken from its type locality, Mbamba Bay. It belongs to a genus whose members range from robust algae-scraping mbuna to slender, elongate crevice-pickers, and without a formal description its exact place within that spread is not established.

Full Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba" "Mbamba Bay"
  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 southeastern-arm locality forms)