Maylandia pambazuko "Hongi Island"

Hongi IslandHOHN-gee EYE-land (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 pambazuko account →

Specific to Hongi Island

  • 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 pambazuko.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in11 cm total length
Temperature72–82 °F22–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 339 ppm
Depth10–82 ft3–25 m
DietGrazes Aufwuchs (algae, diatoms & micro-invertebrates) from rock
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)Not documented; genus-typical broods run roughly 20–60 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical: dominant males brightest and most saturated with anal-fin egg-spots; females and subordinates duller. Not documented in detail for this species.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Hongi Island population

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

Colour reference: living Hongi Island fish at malawi.si

About the species

Maylandia pambazuko is a rock-dwelling mbuna cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi's far northern waters, its species name borrowed from the Swahili word for "dawn" or "daybreak." Like the rest of its genus it grazes the algal turf coating sunlit boulders, and it belongs to the same tightly packed radiation of blue, barred rock cichlids that includes the well-known zebra mbuna. It is documented here from Hongi Island and Londo Bay, two sites in the northern reaches of the lake near the Tanzania–Mozambique shore.

Full Maylandia pambazuko account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia pambazuko "Hongi Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — online database (authority for valid fish names; genus Maylandia)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; the zebra-complex mbuna and northern-lake location forms)