Maylandia sp. "Kingsizei Masimbwe" "Masimbwe Island"

Masimbwe Islandmah-SEEM-bweh 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. "Kingsizei Masimbwe" account →

Specific to Masimbwe 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. "Kingsizei Masimbwe".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 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
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNot documented for this form; the trade name describes size (unusually large for the genus), not colour.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Masimbwe Island population

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

Colour reference: living Masimbwe Island fish at malawi.si

About the species

Maylandia sp. "Kingsizei Masimbwe" is an undescribed mbuna cichlid recorded from Masimbwe Island and Ndomo Point in south-central Lake Malawi. Like Maylandia sp. "Kingsizei Lupingu" on the Tanzanian shore, it belongs to the "kingsizei" trade group — field forms reported to grow unusually large for the genus — but the two are recorded from opposite sides of the lake and should be treated as distinct, separately unnamed populations rather than a single continuous form. It has never been given a scientific name.

Full Maylandia sp. "Kingsizei Masimbwe" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia sp. "Kingsizei Masimbwe" "Masimbwe 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; large-bodied 'kingsizei' field forms)