Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Mylochromis chekopae

Mylochromis chekopae "Nakantenga Island"

Nakantenga Island — nah-kahn-TEHN-gah 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 Mylochromis chekopae account →

Specific to Nakantenga 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 Mylochromis chekopae.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.8 in12.2 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth59–148 ft18–45 m
DietMicro-invertivore / planktivore — feeds on cladocerans, copepods and algae (FishBase); low trophic level (~3.0)
BreedingMaternal (ovophilous) mouthbrooder; polygynous, no pair bondNot published for this species; likely a few dozen eggs for a ~12 cm fish (inferred from similarly sized congeners — not a measured datum)
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical: breeding males expected to develop brighter nuptial coloration; females and non-breeding fish cryptic silvery-beige with the continuous oblique band prominent. Not documented in detail for chekopae.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nakantenga Island population

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

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

About the species

Mylochromis chekopae is a small, oblique-striped haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, described in 2001 from trawl catches off the village of Chekopa in the lake's southeastern arm. Unlike most high-scale-count Mylochromis, which carry a broken, blotchy flank stripe, chekopae and its sister species Mylochromis ensatus wear a clean, continuous oblique band from nape to tail. It is a fish of shallow sandy shores that feeds on plankton and algae, and in the shallower part of its range it is reported to be the single most abundant cichlid present.

Full Mylochromis chekopae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Mylochromis chekopae "Nakantenga Island"
  2. FishBase — Mylochromis chekopae Turner & Howarth, 2001; SpecCode 58749
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Mylochromis chekopae Turner & Howarth, 2001; holotype BMNH 1996.10.14.98, type locality off Chekopa, 13°53′S 35°07′E, 20 m
  4. GBIF — Mylochromis chekopae Turner & Howarth, 2001
  5. Turner, G.F. & Howarth, J.D. (2001) — Description of two new species of Mylochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi, Africa. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 12(3):205–212 [original description]
  6. Derijst, E. & Snoeks, J. (1992) — Maravichromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989, a junior synonym of Mylochromis Regan, 1920. Cybium 16(2):173