Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Mylochromis formosus

Mylochromis formosus "Maleri Island"

Maleri Island — mah-LEH-ree 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 formosus account →

Specific to Maleri 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 formosus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in12.7 cm total length
Temperature75–79 °F24–26 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth—not recorded
DietSmall carnivore — feeds mainly on small fishes and invertebrates (FishBase)
BreedingMaternal (ovophilous) mouthbrooder; polygynous, no pair bond; territorial malesnot published for this species; a few dozen eggs inferred from small congeners (FLAGGED as undocumented)
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical: territorial breeding males develop brighter nuptial coloration; females and non-breeding males cryptic. A dark lachrymal stripe and oblique flank band are present in both sexes. Species-specific dimorphism not separately documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Maleri Island population

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

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

About the species

Mylochromis formosus is a small, handsomely marked haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, where it ranges widely through the lake. Described by Ethelwynn Trewavas in 1935 and named simply for its beauty, it is among the smaller members of its genus, reaching only about 13 cm. Living fish carry a dark lachrymal stripe through the eye and an oblique flank band, and the species hunts small fishes and invertebrates rather than sifting sand like many of its relatives.

Full Mylochromis formosus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Mylochromis formosus "Maleri Island"
  2. FishBase — Mylochromis formosus (Trewavas, 1935)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Mylochromis formosus species record (spid 37784; valid; orig. Haplochromis formosus; type locality Vau)
  4. The ETYFish Project — Cichlidae part 4: Mylochromis formosus etymology
  5. Trewavas, E. (1935) — A synopsis of the cichlid fishes of Lake Nyasa. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (10)16 (original description of Haplochromis formosus)
  6. Derijst, E. & Snoeks, J. (1992) — Maravichromis Eccles and Trewavas, 1989, a junior synonym of Mylochromis Regan, 1920. Cybium 16(2): 173