Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Oreochromis karongae

Oreochromis karongae "Maleri Island"

Maleri Island — mah-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 Oreochromis karongae 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 Oreochromis karongae.

IUCNCRITICALLY ENDANGERED · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size16.5 in42 cm total length
Temperature72–82 °F22–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth0–164 ft0–50 m
DietPlankton feeder (phytoplankton & zooplankton)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (males build bowers/lek)Modest; one brooding female recorded carrying 324 young (~15 mm)
Sexual dimorphismYesStrong: breeding males turn jet black with white-edged dorsal and caudal fins and a long, branched pink-to-yellow genital tassel; females and juveniles are plain greyish-brown.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Maleri Island population

Oreochromis karongae "Maleri Island" is the Maleri Island population of Oreochromis karongae, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Oreochromis karongae, 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

Oreochromis karongae is one of three large tilapias that Malawians call "chambo" — the most prized food fish in the country and, for generations, the backbone of Lake Malawi's commercial fishery. It is a maternal mouthbrooder endemic to the Lake Malawi catchment, where territorial males turn jet black and dig broad sand craters to court greyish-brown females. That commercial value is also its undoing: decades of overfishing have driven chambo catches toward collapse, and the IUCN now lists Oreochromis karongae as Critically Endangered.

Full Oreochromis karongae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Oreochromis karongae "Maleri Island"
  2. Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer) — Oreochromis karongae
  3. FishBase — Oreochromis karongae (Karonga tilapia / Chambo)
  4. GBIF — Oreochromis karongae (Trewavas, 1941)
  5. Chavula et al. 2023 — Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa basin: Status, challenges, and research needs (J. Great Lakes Res. 49(6):102241)
  6. Maturity, age and growth of Oreochromis karongae in Lakes Malawi and Malombe (African J. Aquatic Science)