Maylandia sp. "Lime" "Mbamba Islands"

Mbamba Islandsm-BAHM-bah EYE-landz (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. "Lime" account →

Specific to Mbamba Islands

  • 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. "Lime".

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, genus-typical.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodera few dozen eggs (genus-typical)
Sexual dimorphismYesTrade name implies males show lime-green breeding colour; females duller and less contrastingly marked. Precise pattern not formally documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mbamba Islands population

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

Colour reference: living Mbamba Islands fish at malawi.si

About the species

Maylandia sp. "Lime" is an undescribed mbuna from the reefs immediately around Likoma Island, in central Lake Malawi, recorded at Maingano Island, the Mbamba Islands, and Membe Point. Its trade name describes a lime-green cast to male breeding colour, a shade distinct from the blues and yellows that dominate most of the genus's other Likoma-area forms, though as with most locally named mbuna colour morphs the precise pattern has not been the subject of a published description.

Full Maylandia sp. "Lime" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Maylandia sp. "Lime" "Mbamba Islands"
  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)