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

Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt" "Higga Reef"

Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt" (Higga Reef)

Higga Reef — HEE-gah REEF (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. "Perlmutt" account →

Specific to Higga Reef

  • 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. "Perlmutt".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesLabidochromis vellicansTrewavas 1935
Scientific size3 in8 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth39–98 ft12–30 m
DietRock-associated aufwuchs grazer, observed examining aufwuchs on rock faces at depth (Cichlids Yearbook, Vol. 5)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)Not documented; the published field account describes courtship behaviour but not a spawning event
Sexual dimorphismYesDocumented: males show a pearly mother-of-pearl sheen on the head and flanks, a lemon-yellow dorsal fin, black-margined anal/ventral fins with light yellow egg-spots, and yellow-streaked caudal fin; juveniles and females instead show broad dark brown bars (sometimes split into two) on a cream-white background, with a yellowish tinge on the dorsal and caudal fins (Cichlids Yearbook, Vol. 5).
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Higga Reef population

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

Colour reference: living Higga Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt" is an undescribed rock-dwelling cichlid known from Higga Reef near Mbamba Bay on Tanzania’s Lake Malawi shore. Its trade name is German for “mother-of-pearl,” chosen by the collector who first encountered it for the pearly sheen across the male’s head and flanks — a colour effect the describer noted as unique among the Malawi cichlids known to him. It carries no authority, no year, and no FishBase entry.

Full Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt" "Higga Reef"
  2. malawi.si — Labidochromis species and locality database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Labidochromis genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. (ed.) — Cichlids Yearbook, Volume 5 (Cichlid Press, 1995): field description, habitat, and colouration of Labidochromis sp. "perlmutt" at Higga Reef, Mbamba Bay, Tanzania
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