Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Nimbochromis venustus

Nimbochromis venustus "Luwala Reef"

Luwala Reef — loo-WAH-lah REEF (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 Nimbochromis venustus account →

Specific to Luwala Reef

  • 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 Nimbochromis venustus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size9.8 in25 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.2–8.8alkaline
Depth20–75 ft6–23 m
DietAmbush piscivore — feigns death on sand to lure prey
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderUp to ~120 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males transform to vivid peacock-blue and yellow-gold; females and non-breeding males retain the cryptic brown-and-dark blotched pattern. Males grow larger.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Luwala Reef population

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

Colour reference: living Luwala Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Nimbochromis venustus, the venustus or giraffe cichlid of Lake Malawi, is among the most recognisable and widely kept large haplochromine cichlids in the hobby: males in breeding dress glow an intense peacock-blue over a warm yellow ground, while both sexes carry the dark, giraffe-like blotching that gives the fish one of its trade names. It is a patient, specialist hunter that earns its place in the Nimbochromis lineage of ambush predators — capable of settling motionless onto the sand, mimicking a dead fish, until a smaller cichlid draws close enough to seize.

Full Nimbochromis venustus account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Nimbochromis venustus "Luwala Reef"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Nimbochromis venustus (species record, spid=37995)
  3. FishBase: Nimbochromis venustus (Boulenger, 1908)
  4. Eccles, D.H. & Trewavas, E. 1989. Malawian Cichlid Fishes: The Classification of Some Haplochromine Genera. Lake Fish Movies, Herten
  5. ETYFish Project: Family Cichlidae (part 4 of 7): Pseudocrenilabrinae (l–o) — Nimbochromis etymology
  6. Konings, A. 2016. Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 5th ed. Cichlid Press, El Paso, Texas