Mylochromis sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii" "Maleri Island"

Maleri Islandmah-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 sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii" 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 sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size8 in20 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–66 ft5–20 m
DietBenthic invertivore, foraging over sand for small invertebrates and organic material (genus-typical; not directly documented for this form)
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)not documented for this form; genus-typical, a few dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesNo colour account specific to this form has been published; genus-typical pattern expected — silvery body with a dark oblique stripe, males intensifying at breeding, based on the described relative M. guentheri.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Maleri Island population

Mylochromis sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii" "Maleri Island" is the Maleri Island population of Mylochromis sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii", 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 sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii", 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 sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii" is an undescribed sand-dwelling haplochromine from Lake Malawi, recognised in the trade as a form close to the described species Mylochromis guentheri. It has no formal description, no describing author, and no FishBase entry. The recorded locality here is Maleri Island, in the central lake; the "Mbenjii" tag in the trade name points toward Mbenji Island further north, a common source of the type of fish this name is applied to in the hobby, and the two collection points should be treated as separate records of a similar-looking form rather than proof of a single population.

Full Mylochromis sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Mylochromis sp. "Guentheri Mbenjii" "Maleri Island"
  2. FishBase — Mylochromis guentheri (the described species this form is compared to)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)