Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Goldbar"

Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Goldbar" "Chizumulu Island"

Chizumulu Island — chee-zoo-MOO-loo 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. "Elongatus Goldbar" account →

Specific to Chizumulu 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. "Elongatus Goldbar".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–49 ft3–15 m
DietAlgae grazer; scrapes filamentous algae and aufwuchs from rock, favouring narrow crevices typical of the elongatus group.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodera few dozen eggs (genus-typical)
Sexual dimorphismYesTrade name implies males show gold/yellow barring against dark vertical bars; females duller and less contrastingly marked. Precise pattern not formally documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chizumulu Island population

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

Colour reference: living Chizumulu Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Goldbar" is an undescribed mbuna from the reefs around Chizumulu and Likoma Islands, in the open water of central Lake Malawi. It belongs to the informal "elongatus" group — a loose assemblage of slender-bodied, vertically barred mbuna scattered across dozens of sites lakewide, each population distinguished mainly by fine differences in bar pattern and accent colour. Its trade name, "Goldbar," points to a gold or yellow stripe or barring pattern that sets this population apart from other elongatus-type forms, though as with most of these local colour morphs the precise pattern has not been the subject of a published description.

Full Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Goldbar" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Goldbar" "Chizumulu Island"
  2. malawi.si — Maylandia (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority; Maylandia/zebra complex)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Maylandia (genus profile)