Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Mylochromis ensatus

Mylochromis ensatus "Mazinzi Reef"

Mylochromis ensatus (Mazinzi Reef, South East Arm)

Mazinzi Reef — mah-ZEEN-zee REEF (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 ensatus account →

Specific to Mazinzi Reef

  • 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 ensatus.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesMylochromis lateristrigadescribed as Chromis lateristriga Günther 1864
Scientific size8 in20.7 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth49–75 ft15–23 m
DietBenthic invertivore — takes invertebrates from sandy substrates (FishBase); pharyngeal teeth non-molariform (not a molluscivore)
BreedingMaternal (ovophilous) mouthbrooder; polygynous, no pair bondNot published for this species (inferred from 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 ensatus.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mazinzi Reef population

Mylochromis ensatus "Mazinzi Reef" is the Mazinzi Reef population of Mylochromis ensatus, 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 ensatus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Mazinzi Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Mylochromis ensatus is a slender, sword-shaped haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, described in 2001 from the lake's southeastern arm. Its name — Latin for 'sword-bearing' — captures its diagnostic look: the most slender body of any known Mylochromis, with a shallow, elongate form and an acutely pointed head. Like its sister species Mylochromis chekopae, it carries a clean, continuous oblique stripe from nape to tail rather than the broken, blotchy stripe of most high-scale-count congeners, and it forages for invertebrates over shallow sandy shores.

Full Mylochromis ensatus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Mylochromis ensatus "Mazinzi Reef"
  2. FishBase — Mylochromis ensatus Turner & Howarth, 2001; SpecCode 58915
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Mylochromis ensatus Turner & Howarth, 2001 (species record; southeastern arm of Lake Malawi)
  4. GBIF — Mylochromis ensatus 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
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