Maylandia sciasma "Makonde"
Makonde — mah-KOHN-deh (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 sciasma account →Specific to Makonde
- 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 sciasma.
The Makonde population
Maylandia sciasma "Makonde" is the Makonde population of Maylandia sciasma, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Maylandia sciasma, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Makonde fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Maylandia sciasma is a rock-dwelling mbuna documented from the far northern end of Lake Malawi, at localities including Ikombe and Kirondo on the Tanzanian shore and Lifuma, Makonde, Ngwasi and Nkanda toward the Malawi border. Its species name, from the Greek for shadow or shading, hints at a subdued or dusky element in its colour pattern, distinguishing it from the many brighter zebra-mbuna in the genus Maylandia. Like its relatives it is a rock endemic whose identity is tied to a narrow stretch of coastline near the lake's northern tip.
Full Maylandia sciasma account →