Melanochromis wochepa "Lumessi"Dialeptos blue
Melanochromis wochepa (Lumessi)
Lumessi — loo-MEH-see (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 wochepa account →Specific to Lumessi
- 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 wochepa.
The Lumessi population
Melanochromis wochepa "Lumessi" is the Lumessi population of Melanochromis wochepa, a geographic colour form from the Mozambique coast of Lake Malawi in the south-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Melanochromis wochepa, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Lumessi fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Melanochromis wochepa is a small rock-dwelling mbuna documented from the Lumessi locality in Lake Malawi, part of the genus Melanochromis whose members are among the lake's most familiar dark-striped algae-grazing cichlids. Its species epithet is drawn from Chichewa rather than Latin or Greek, most plausibly relating to the local word for "few" or "small," a fitting label for what appears to be a modestly proportioned and locally restricted member of a genus that also includes some of the hobby's larger, more pugnacious mbuna.
Full Melanochromis wochepa account →