Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Naevochromis chrysogaster

Naevochromis chrysogaster "Maingano Island"

Maingano Island — mah-een-GAH-noh 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 Naevochromis chrysogaster account →

Specific to Maingano 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 Naevochromis chrysogaster.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7 in17.9 cm total length
Temperature75–79 °F24–26 °C
pH7.5–8.3alkaline
Depth10–131 ft3–40 m
DietPaedophage — feeds on cichlid fry and larvae by inducing mouthbrooding females to release their brood
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~25 large eggs; ~22 free-swimming fry after ~26 days (captive record, Borstein 2011)
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males have a vivid blue face, metallic flank speckles, elongated fins, and multiple anal-fin egg-spots; females are smaller, tan-grey with a diagonal flank stripe or blotches.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Maingano Island population

Naevochromis chrysogaster "Maingano Island" is the Maingano Island population of Naevochromis chrysogaster, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the central part of the lake. It is the same species as Naevochromis chrysogaster, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

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

About the species

Naevochromis chrysogaster is a large haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, and the sole member of its monotypic genus. It roams rocky and intermediate shorelines throughout the lake, hunting the most closely guarded resource available: the broods of other cichlids. With teeth buried flush in swollen gum pads and a thick, projecting chin, it is built to ram mouthbrooding females and swallow the larvae that spill out — one of a handful of Lake Malawi fish that have evolved to steal from a parent's mouth.

Full Naevochromis chrysogaster account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Naevochromis chrysogaster "Maingano Island"
  2. FishBase — Naevochromis chrysogaster (Trewavas, 1935): summary page
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Naevochromis chrysogaster (species record, spid=37746)
  4. GBIF — Naevochromis chrysogaster (Trewavas, 1935), taxon key 2370304
  5. The ETYFish Project — Family CICHLIDAE, Subfamily PSEUDOCRENILABRINAE (part 4 of 7): Naevochromis etymology
  6. Konings, A., Wisor, J.M. & Stauffer, J.R. Jr (2021). Microcomputed tomography used to link head morphology and observed feeding behavior in cichlids of Lake Malaŵi. Ecology and Evolution 11(9):4605–4615. DOI 10.1002/ece3.7359