Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Lethrinops leptodon

Lethrinops leptodon "Malopa"

Malopa — mah-LOH-pah (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 Malopa

  • 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
Scientific size7.9 in20 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
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 Malopa population

Lethrinops leptodon "Malopa" is the Malopa population of Lethrinops leptodon, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the south-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 Malopa 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 20 cm — 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 "Malopa"
  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)