Maylandia sp. "Chinyankwazi" "Chinyamwezi Island"

Chinyamwezi Islandcheen-yahm-WEH-zee 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. "Chinyankwazi" account →

Specific to Chinyamwezi 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. "Chinyankwazi".

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)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (polygynous, male-territorial)Not documented for this form; genus-typical range roughly 12-40 eggs
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNot documented for this form; the island group is known for zebra-complex males with dark barring and, in several neighbouring populations, orange-blotch (OB) females, but this has not been confirmed for 'Chinyankwazi' specifically.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chinyamwezi Island population

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

Colour reference: living Chinyamwezi Island fish at malawi.si

About the species

Maylandia sp. "Chinyankwazi" is an undescribed mbuna cichlid recorded from Chinyamwezi and Chinyankwazi Islands, a pair of small, closely spaced islands in south-central Lake Malawi near the better-known Maleri island group. It has never been given a scientific name and is known chiefly by its island of origin. The Chinyamwezi–Chinyankwazi island pair sits within a part of the lake well known for producing distinctive, brightly patterned Maylandia zebra-complex populations, including orange-blotch (OB) forms, though this particular population's exact colouration has not been documented in the sources available for this article.

Full Maylandia sp. "Chinyankwazi" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia sp. "Chinyankwazi" "Chinyamwezi Island"
  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; Maleri island group and neighbouring islets)