Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Linganjala" "Linganjala Reef"

Linganjala Reefleen-gahn-JAH-lah REEF (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 Linganjala" account →

Specific to Linganjala Reef

  • 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 Linganjala".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–66 ft3–20 m
DietAufwuchs grazer (algae, diatoms and associated micro-invertebrates scraped from rock, including within crevices)
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this population; small elongatus-type mbuna typically a few dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesExpected genus-typical: males blue with dark vertical barring, females plainer blue-grey; not documented in detail for this specific population
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Linganjala Reef population

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

Colour reference: living Linganjala Reef fish at malawi.si

About the species

Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Linganjala" is an undescribed mbuna recorded from Linganjala Reef on the Malawian shore of Lake Malawi. It belongs to the loose "elongatus" group — a slender, torpedo-shaped body plan shared by scattered Maylandia and Tropheops populations around the lake, distinct from the deeper-bodied "zebra" build most people picture when they think of mbuna. The trade name records both that body form and the reef where this particular population was collected. It has no describing author, no FishBase record, and no IUCN assessment.

Full Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Linganjala" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia sp. "Elongatus Linganjala" "Linganjala Reef"
  2. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 5th ed. (Cichlid Press)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Genus record (authority for valid names; this trade name has no catalog entry)