Lethrinops sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire" "Ntekete"

Nteketen-teh-KEH-teh (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 sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire" account →

Specific to Ntekete

  • 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 sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth98–230 ft30–70 m
DietPresumed muddy-substrate invertivore, inferred from steep head profile and pointed snout; not directly observed feeding
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)not documented
Sexual dimorphismYesThe single known specimen showed metallic green colouration on the head and snout, interpreted as a mature male; no female has ever been recorded.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Ntekete population

Lethrinops sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire" "Ntekete" is the Ntekete population of Lethrinops sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire", 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 sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Ntekete fish at malawi.si

About the species

Lethrinops sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire" is an undescribed, deep-dwelling sand cichlid known from a single specimen recovered from a fisherman's open-water gillnet near Fort Maguire, just north of the Mozambique border, and reported since at Ntekete further up the Malawian shore. Ad Konings named it for its resemblance to the described species Lethrinops christyi and for its discovery locality. Its steeply sloped upper head profile and pointed, protrusible snout point to a fish built for probing muddy bottoms at considerable depth, a specialised feeding mode shared by only a handful of deep-water Lethrinops.

Full Lethrinops sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Lethrinops sp. "Christyi Fort Maguire" "Ntekete"
  2. malawi.si — Lethrinops species database
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat / Cichlids Yearbook (type specimen account, Fort Maguire)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Lethrinops genus profile