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