Mylochromis mollis "Thumbi West Island"
Thumbi West Island — TOOM-bee WEST 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 mollis account →Specific to Thumbi West 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 mollis.
The Thumbi West Island population
Mylochromis mollis "Thumbi West Island" is the Thumbi West Island population of Mylochromis mollis, 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 mollis, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Thumbi West Island fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Mylochromis mollis is a sand-associated haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, belonging to a genus of elongate, long-snouted "haps" that forage over the lake's sandy floor. Its species name — Latin for "soft" or "gentle" — most likely describes some aspect of its texture, colouration, or demeanour, though the precise reference has not been confirmed here. It is documented from Thumbi West Island, a well-studied site in the Lake Malawi National Park area near Cape Maclear.
Full Mylochromis mollis account →Sources
- malawi.si — Mylochromis mollis "Thumbi West Island"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — online database (authority for valid fish names; genus Mylochromis, Regan 1920)
- Derijst, E. & Snoeks, J. (1992) — Maravichromis Eccles and Trewavas, 1989, a junior synonym of Mylochromis Regan, 1920. Cybium 16(2): 173
- Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; genus Mylochromis)