Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Lethrinops sp. "Yellow Chest"

Lethrinops sp. "Yellow Chest" "Senga Bay"

Lethrinops sp. "Yellow Chest" (Senga Bay)

Senga Bay — SEHN-gah BAY (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. "Yellow Chest" account →

Specific to Senga Bay

  • 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. "Yellow Chest".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesLethrinops lethrinusdescribed as Chromis lethrinus Günther 1894
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 446 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth26–82 ft8–25 m
DietSand-sifting invertivore; genus-typical, takes mouthfuls of sand and filters out chironomid larvae, ostracods, and other small benthic invertebrates.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; modest, genus-typical
Sexual dimorphismYesTrade name implies breeding males show a yellow flush across the breast and lower flank against blue-grey tones; not formally documented in detail.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Senga Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Senga Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Lethrinops sp. "Yellow Chest" is an undescribed sand-dwelling cichlid recorded at Senga Bay on Lake Malawi's central-west shore, one of the lake's most heavily collected localities for the aquarium trade. The trade name is descriptive: breeding males are reported to show a yellow flush across the breast and lower flank, a common colour theme among Lethrinops breeding dress. Formal documentation is thin, and this article distinguishes what the name implies from what has actually been confirmed in print.

Full Lethrinops sp. "Yellow Chest" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Lethrinops sp. "Yellow Chest" "Senga Bay"
  2. malawi.si — species and locality database (Konings-based)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Lethrinops (genus profile)
Add this species card to your site

Paste this into a product listing, club page or blog post. It shows this species’ size, water ranges and conservation status, kept current from the atlas, with a link to this page. Free to use; keep the link intact, as it is the attribution. How the card works.

<div data-atlas="species/lethrinops-sp-yellow-chest-senga-bay"><a href="https://www.aquaristatlas.com/species/lethrinops-sp-yellow-chest-senga-bay/">Lethrinops sp. "Yellow Chest" "Senga Bay" on Aquarist Atlas</a></div>
<script src="https://www.aquaristatlas.com/embed/v1/card.js" async referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></script>