Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Lethrinops leptodon

Lethrinops leptodon "Likoma Island"

Lethrinops leptodon (Chiloelo, Likoma Island, Malopa, Membe Point, Nkhata Bay)

Likoma Island — lee-KOH-mah 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 Lethrinops leptodon account →

Specific to Likoma 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 Lethrinops leptodon.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesLethrinops lethrinusdescribed as Chromis lethrinus Günther 1894
Scientific size8 in20 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth16–66 ft5–20 m
DietSand-sifting benthic invertivore (small invertebrates and insect larvae sifted from sand)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (lek-spawning inferred from genus; males defend a sand site)not documented for L. leptodon; sand-dwelling Lethrinops congeners typically carry a few dozen eggs/fry
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot firmly documented for this species; Lethrinops are typically seasonally dimorphic, with colourful nuptial males and plain silvery females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Likoma Island population

Lethrinops leptodon "Likoma Island" is the Likoma Island population of Lethrinops leptodon, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the central part of the lake. It is the same species as Lethrinops leptodon, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

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

About the species

Lethrinops leptodon is a sand-dwelling haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, one of the species Charles Tate Regan placed in his newly erected genus Lethrinops in 1922. A relatively large member of the genus — reaching about 8 in — it works the open sand for buried invertebrates in the manner shared by all the lake's sand-sifters. Its name, 'thin tooth', points to the fine pharyngeal dentition that helped Regan separate it from its congeners.

Full Lethrinops leptodon account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Lethrinops leptodon "Likoma Island"
  2. FishBase — Lethrinops leptodon Regan, 1922
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Lethrinops leptodon (species record; authorship & status)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Lethrinops (genus record)
  5. The ETYFish Project — Cichlidae (Pseudocrenilabrinae): Lethrinops leptodon etymology ('thin tooth')
  6. Regan, C. T. 1922. 'The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Nyassa.' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1921(4): 675–727 (original description; via CRC bibliography)
  7. IUCN Red List — Lethrinops leptodon "Likoma Island"
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