Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Maylandia cyneusmarginata

Maylandia cyneusmarginata "Chia"

Chia — CHEE-ah (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 Maylandia cyneusmarginata account →

Specific to Chia

  • 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 Maylandia cyneusmarginata.

IUCNNEAR THREATENED · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.1 in8 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth3–49 ft1–15 m
DietPlanktivore/omnivore — primarily plankton; also aufwuchs (algae/diatoms/cyanobacteria) from rock surfaces (IUCN)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~20–40 eggs (genus-typical estimate; species-specific count unpublished)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales blue with black submarginal dorsal-fin band and brown lappets; females bluish-gray, lacking dorsal markings. Males grow larger.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chia population

Maylandia cyneusmarginata "Chia" is the Chia population of Maylandia cyneusmarginata, 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 Maylandia cyneusmarginata, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Chia fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Maylandia cyneusmarginata is a narrowly distributed mbuna cichlid endemic to a short stretch of the Malawian western shoreline of Lake Malawi. Known from only three sites — Nkhotakota, Nkhomo Reef, and Chidunga Rocks — it is one of the lake's most range-restricted members of the Pseudotropheus zebra complex, and its Near Threatened IUCN status reflects just how exposed such a small-footprint species is to sedimentation and collection pressure. The name refers to the blue marginal band on the dorsal fin that distinguishes it from most congeners at a glance.

Full Maylandia cyneusmarginata account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia cyneusmarginata "Chia"
  2. Stauffer, J.R. Jr., Bowers, N.J., Kellogg, K.A. & McKaye, K.R. (1997) — 'A revision of the blue-black Pseudotropheus zebra (Teleostei: Cichlidae) complex from Lake Malawi Africa, with a description of a new genus and ten new species.' Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 148: 189–230
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Maylandia cyneusmarginata (Stauffer, Bowers, Kellogg & McKaye, 1997)
  4. FishBase — Maylandia cyneusmarginata summary page
  5. malawi.si — Maylandia cyneusmarginata 'Nkhomo Reef' (Stuart Grant / M.K. Oliver database)
  6. Konings, A. (2016) — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 5th edition. Cichlid Press, El Paso, USA