Lethrinops microstoma "Border"
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 microstoma account →Specific to Border
- 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 microstoma.
The Border population
Lethrinops microstoma "Border" is the Border population of Lethrinops microstoma, 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 microstoma, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Border fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Lethrinops microstoma is a sand-dwelling haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, named for its distinctively small mouth — a build suited to fine-grained sifting of the finest particles from the sandy lake floor rather than to seizing larger prey. It is documented here from two widely separated sites, Border in the south and Manda in the north, hinting at a population that may range across a considerable stretch of the lake's sandy shore.
Full Lethrinops microstoma account →