Maylandia sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji" "Mbenji Island"
Mbenji Island — m-BEHN-jee 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 sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji" account →Specific to Mbenji 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 sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji".
The Mbenji Island population
Maylandia sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji" "Mbenji Island" is the Mbenji Island population of Maylandia sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji", 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 sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Mbenji Island fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Maylandia sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji" is an undescribed rock-dwelling mbuna recorded at Mbenji Island, an offshore island in central Lake Malawi long known in the hobby for its distinctive, often large-growing Maylandia zebra-complex populations. The trade name highlights a black dorsal fin as the distinguishing field mark separating this form from other Mbenji Island mbuna. Mbenji's zebra-type populations have a well-documented reputation in the hobby literature for size and striking colour, though the fine detail of this particular form's pattern has not been formally published.
Full Maylandia sp. "Black Dorsal Mbenji" account →