Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Maylandia mossambica

Maylandia mossambica "Lumessi"

Lumessi — loo-MEH-see (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 mossambica account →

Specific to Lumessi

  • 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 mossambica.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.1 in8 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth23–66 ft7–20 m
DietAufwuchs browser of loose algae (diatoms, short strands) plus phytoplankton; intermediate rock-sand zone
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderNot published as a figure for this species; modest (mbuna typical), likely small given compact female size
Sexual dimorphismYesTerritorial males geographically variable (gold-grey at Lumessi; light blue with grey bars at Chinuni; light blue with dark bars and black streaking at Chiloelo), no black band in the dorsal; females uniform beige-brown with orange-yellow fin margins.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Lumessi population

Maylandia mossambica "Lumessi" is the Lumessi population of Maylandia mossambica, a geographic colour form from the Mozambique coast of Lake Malawi in the south-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Maylandia mossambica, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Lumessi fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Maylandia mossambica is a mbuna of the rock-and-sand intermediate zone, endemic to the Mozambican shore of Lake Malawi along a roughly 20-kilometre stretch between the Chiloelo River and Chinuni. Named simply for Mozambique, it belongs to the group of Maylandia that, like Maylandia aurora, lack a black band in the dorsal fin and live where gently sloping rock grades into sand. Its territorial males are geographically variable — gold-and-grey at Lumessi, light blue with grey bars at Chinuni, blue with dark bars and black streaking at the type locality of Chiloelo.

Full Maylandia mossambica account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia mossambica "Lumessi"
  2. FishBase — Maylandia mossambica (Ciccotto, Konings & Stauffer, 2011), species summary (SpecCode 65906; max 8.0 cm SL; Lake Malawi in Mozambique; IUCN LC 22 Jun 2018)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Maylandia mossambica (species record; valid name, authorship, type locality Chiloela, Mozambique; gender note mossambicum/mossambica)
  4. Ciccotto, P.J., Konings, A.F. & Stauffer, J.R. Jr. 2011 — Descriptions of five new species in the genus Metriaclima (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malaŵi, Africa. Zootaxa 2738:1–25 (original description; holotype 79.7 mm SL, male colour variants, aurora-like grouping)
  5. Zootaxa (Mapress) — Descriptions of five new species in the genus Metriaclima from Lake Malaŵi (article landing page)
  6. GBIF — Maylandia mossambica (Ciccotto, Konings & Stauffer, 2011), occurrence and taxonomy