Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Melanochromis melanopterus

Melanochromis melanopterus "Likoma Island"

Likoma Island — lee-KOH-mah 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 Melanochromis melanopterus account →

Specific to Likoma 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 Melanochromis melanopterus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in11.4 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth26–131 ft8–40 m
DietGrazes aufwuchs / omnivore
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderA few dozen eggs (genus-typical; not well documented for this species)
Sexual dimorphismYesSexually dichromatic; dominant males darken markedly with an inverted melanin pattern, while females and subordinates stay paler with yellowish flank markings
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Likoma Island population

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

Colour reference: living Likoma Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Melanochromis melanopterus is a small, dark rock-dwelling cichlid (an "mbuna") endemic to Lake Malawi, and the fish for which its entire genus is named. Where most of its yellow-and-blue relatives advertise themselves on the reef, this one blends into the shadows of the rock pile and earns a living the hard way: ambushing the fry of other cichlids. Unobtrusive in the wild and uncommon in the trade, it is one of the more cryptic members of one of the planet's most spectacular fish radiations.

Full Melanochromis melanopterus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Melanochromis melanopterus "Likoma Island"
  2. Melanochromis melanopterus — FishBase species summary
  3. Melanochromis melanopterus — Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (via FishBase species link)
  4. Ad Konings, Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat — Melanochromis melanopterus (malawi.si / Konings cache)
  5. Konings & Stauffer (2012), Review of the Lake Malawi genus Melanochromis, Zootaxa 3258
  6. Konings-Dudin, Konings & Stauffer (2009), Descriptions of three new species of Melanochromis and a redescription of M. vermivorus, Zootaxa 2076