Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Oreochromis squamipinnis

Oreochromis squamipinnis "Gome"Chambo

Oreochromis squamipinnis (Chinuni, Gome, Thumbi Point)

Gome — GOH-meh (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 squamipinnis account →

Specific to Gome

  • 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 squamipinnis.

IUCNCRITICALLY ENDANGERED · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesOreochromis hunteriGünther 1889
Scientific size14 in36 cm standard length
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7.5–8.8alkaline
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth0–72 ft0–22 m
DietPhytoplankton grazer (diatoms) + detritus & zooplankton
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodermodest, size-dependent (genus-typical few hundred eggs); Malombe fish more fecund than SE-arm fish
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males have a pale blue/green/white head 'mask', black-and-white body, and long branched genital tassels (egg dummies); females and juveniles plain silvery-grey.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Gome population

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

Colour reference: living Gome fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Oreochromis squamipinnis is one of the four endemic Lake Malawi tilapias collectively traded and eaten as 'chambo' — for generations the most prized food fish in Malawi. A heavily built, maternal mouthbrooder of the subgenus Nyasalapia, it is set apart from its near-identical siblings by the breeding male's vivid pale 'mask': a head flushed blue, green or white above a body that turns coal-black below and snow-white along the back. Males excavate sand bowers in lek arenas and lure females down to spawn, after which the female alone carries the brood. Once landed by the thousands of tonnes, chambo stocks crashed under sustained overfishing through the 1990s, and the IUCN now lists this species as Critically Endangered.

Full Oreochromis squamipinnis account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Oreochromis squamipinnis "Gome"
  2. FishBase — Oreochromis squamipinnis (Kasawala)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Oreochromis squamipinnis (species record)
  4. Turner, G.F. & Oliver, M.K. — Oreochromis (Nyasalapia) squamipinnis (Günther), MalawiCichlids.com
  5. FAO — Fisheries management in south-east Lake Malawi, Upper Shire & Lake Malombe: 4. Biology of chambo
  6. Cichlid Room Companion — Oreochromis squamipinnis (Artigas Azas)
  7. IUCN Red List — Oreochromis squamipinnis "Gome"
Add this species card to your site

Paste this into a product listing, club page or blog post. It shows this species’ size, water ranges and conservation status, kept current from the atlas, with a link to this page. Free to use; keep the link intact, as it is the attribution. How the card works.

<div data-atlas="species/oreochromis-squamipinnis-gome"><a href="https://www.aquaristatlas.com/species/oreochromis-squamipinnis-gome/">Oreochromis squamipinnis "Gome" on Aquarist Atlas</a></div>
<script src="https://www.aquaristatlas.com/embed/v1/card.js" async referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></script>