Maylandia sp. "Dumpy Chitimba" "Chitimba Bay"

Chitimba Baychee-TEEM-bah BAY (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. "Dumpy Chitimba" account →

Specific to Chitimba Bay

  • 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. "Dumpy Chitimba".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in11 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 357 ppm
Depth7–49 ft2–15 m
DietAufwuchs grazer (genus-typical), scraping algal film and associated invertebrates from rock surfaces.
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (polygynous, male-territorial; cave/crevice territory presumed)Not documented for this form; genus-typical range roughly 12-40 eggs
Sexual dimorphismMinimalColour pattern not documented for this form; the 'dumpy' trade name refers to an unusually short, deep-bodied build rather than a colour feature.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chitimba Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Chitimba Bay fish at malawi.si

About the species

Maylandia sp. "Dumpy Chitimba" is an undescribed rock-dwelling mbuna recorded at Chitimba Bay on Lake Malawi's northern west shore. "Dumpy" is a body-shape descriptor used in the Malawi cichlid trade for unusually short, deep-bodied populations within otherwise elongate species complexes, distinguishing this Chitimba form from more typically proportioned Maylandia sharing the same rocky ground. The name describes build, not colour, and this article keeps that distinction clear rather than assuming a pattern that has not been documented.

Full Maylandia sp. "Dumpy Chitimba" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia sp. "Dumpy Chitimba" "Chitimba Bay"
  2. malawi.si — species and locality database (Konings-based)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Maylandia genus overview (Ad Konings, curator)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)