Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Melanochromis kaskazini

Melanochromis kaskazini "Manda"

Melanochromis kaskazini (Cape Kaiser, Kirondo, Manda, Ngwasi, Nkanda)

Manda — MAHN-dah (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 Melanochromis kaskazini account →

Specific to Manda

  • 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 Melanochromis kaskazini.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesMelanochromis melanopterusTrewavas 1935
Scientific size6.5 in16 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth16–131 ft5–40 m
DietPredatory omnivore (invertebrates, small fishes)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (polygamous)Not documented in primary literature; genus-typical ~20–50 eggs (FLAGGED)
Sexual dimorphismYesStrongly dimorphic: breeding males are uniform cobalt blue without any lateral stripe; females are white-bodied with a distinctive yellow-to-orange anal fin. Incomplete reversal pattern — males lack the pale stripes that dominate in other Melanochromis.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Manda population

Melanochromis kaskazini "Manda" is the Manda population of Melanochromis kaskazini, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Melanochromis kaskazini, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Manda fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Melanochromis kaskazini is a large, predatory mbuna endemic to a short stretch of the northeastern shore of Lake Malawi — an unusual cichlid in a genus better known for algae-scraping dwarfs. Males are an unbroken cobalt blue, abandoning the reversed-stripe pattern typical of their relatives, while females are strikingly white with a vivid yellow-to-orange anal fin. Until its formal description in 2009, the species circulated in European aquariums under the provisional label 'northern blue,' a name the Swahili etymology of its scientific name directly translates.

Full Melanochromis kaskazini account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Melanochromis kaskazini "Manda"
  2. Konings-Dudin, G., Konings, A.F. & Stauffer, J.R. Jr. — 'Descriptions of three new species of Melanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) and a redescription of M. vermivorus' (Zootaxa 2076: 37–59, 2009) [original description]
  3. Konings, A.F. & Stauffer, J.R. Jr. — 'Review of the Lake Malawi genus Melanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with a description of a new species' (Zootaxa 3258: 1–27, 2012) [confirms kaskazini valid in Melanochromis]
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Melanochromis kaskazini Konings-Dudin, Konings & Stauffer 2009 (species record)
  5. FishBase — Melanochromis kaskazini (species summary page; FishBase ID 64911)
  6. GBIF — Melanochromis kaskazini Konings-Dudin, Konings & Stauffer, 2009 (backbone taxonomy; taxon key 2373211)
  7. IUCN Red List — Melanochromis kaskazini "Manda"
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