Mylochromis sp. "Ikombe" "Ikombe"

Ikombeee-KOHM-beh (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. "Ikombe" account →

Specific to Ikombe

  • 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. "Ikombe".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7 in18 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–82 ft5–25 m
DietBenthic invertivore, foraging over sand and rubble for small invertebrates (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 of drab females and more strongly coloured breeding males is expected but not documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Ikombe population

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

Colour reference: living Ikombe fish at malawi.si

About the species

Mylochromis sp. "Ikombe" is an undescribed haplochromine cichlid recorded from Ikombe, on the Tanzanian shore near the northern end of Lake Malawi. Unlike many undescribed Mylochromis trade names, this one carries no resemblance tag to a described species — it is known simply by its collection point, a stretch of the far-northern lake that is less intensively surveyed than the better-known central and southern shores. It has no formal description, no describing author, and no FishBase entry.

Full Mylochromis sp. "Ikombe" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Mylochromis sp. "Ikombe" "Ikombe"
  2. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — online database (authority for valid fish names; genus Mylochromis)