Maylandia sp. "Zebra Gold" "Charo"
Charo — CHAH-roh (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. "Zebra Gold" account →Specific to Charo
- 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. "Zebra Gold".
The Charo population
Maylandia sp. "Zebra Gold" "Charo" is the Charo population of Maylandia sp. "Zebra Gold", 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. "Zebra Gold", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Charo fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Maylandia sp. "Zebra Gold" is an undescribed member of the Lake Malawi zebra mbuna complex, recorded from a cluster of localities on the west-central Malawian shore. It belongs to the group of rock-dwelling mbuna popularly known simply as "zebras" for their bold vertical barring, but this particular form is distinguished by a naturally occurring golden-yellow body colour rather than the blue ground colour typical of the complex — a genuine wild colour morph documented within the zebra group rather than an aquarium-bred variety. It has never been formally described, so no authority, publication year, FishBase number, or IUCN status should be attached to it.
Full Maylandia sp. "Zebra Gold" account →