Maylandia sp. "Cave Manda" "Manda"

MandaMAHN-dah (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. "Cave Manda" account →

Specific to Manda

  • 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. "Cave Manda".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 357 ppm
Depth16–82 ft5–25 m
DietAufwuchs grazer (genus-typical), likely foraging within sheltered cave/crevice microhabitat
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (polygynous, male-territorial; cave/crevice territory presumed)Not documented for this form; genus-typical range roughly 12-40 eggs
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNot documented for this form; specific colouration has not been published beyond the cave/crevice habitat association implied by the trade name.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Manda population

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

Colour reference: living Manda fish at malawi.si

About the species

Maylandia sp. "Cave Manda" is an undescribed mbuna cichlid recorded from Manda and Pombo Rocks on the Tanzanian shore of Lake Malawi. Its trade name marks it out from the genus's usual open-rock specialists by an association with caves and crevices rather than exposed rock face, alongside Manda, one of its two recorded localities. It has never been given a scientific name, and its exact taxonomic placement within the large Maylandia zebra-mbuna radiation remains unresolved.

Full Maylandia sp. "Cave Manda" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia sp. "Cave Manda" "Manda"
  2. malawi.si — Maylandia species and locality database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Maylandia genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; Tanzanian-shore mbuna communities)