Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Otopharynx antron

Otopharynx antron "Nametumbwe"

Nametumbwe — nah-meh-TOOM-bweh (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 Otopharynx antron account →

Specific to Nametumbwe

  • 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 Otopharynx antron.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.9 in9.9 cm standard length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth33–197 ft10–60 m
DietPresumed carnivore on larger invertebrates and possibly small fish — predominantly unicuspid oral teeth indicate prey-seizing dentition (inferred; no direct study)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (Malaŵi haplochromine flock); males defend sandy-floored cavesUnrecorded for this species
Sexual dimorphismYesMales are the cave-holding, territorial sex (defending caves chiefly against conspecific males); detailed colour dimorphism not formally described.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nametumbwe population

Otopharynx antron "Nametumbwe" is the Nametumbwe population of Otopharynx antron, 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 Otopharynx antron, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Nametumbwe fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Otopharynx antron is a cave-dwelling haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malaŵi, described in 2009 by Rachel Cleaver, Ad Konings and Jay Stauffer. Its name is Greek for 'cave,' and the fish lives up to it: males defend small sandy-floored caves and overhangs along the lake's eastern shore, from about 10 to 60 m deep. A small, large-eyed Otopharynx with mostly single-pointed teeth, it is thought to take comparatively large invertebrate prey from the shadowed rock crevices it calls home.

Full Otopharynx antron account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx antron "Nametumbwe"
  2. Cleaver, R.M., A.F. Konings & J.R. Stauffer Jr., 2009 — Two new cave-dwelling cichlids of Lake Malaŵi, Africa. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 20(2):163–178 (original description)
  3. FishBase — Otopharynx antron Cleaver, Konings & Stauffer, 2009 (size, depth, distribution, diagnosis, behaviour)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Otopharynx antron (valid name, authorship, distribution)
  5. Eccles, D.H. & E. Trewavas, 1989 — Malaŵian Cichlid Fishes: a classification of some Haplochromine genera (genus Otopharynx)
  6. Checklist of the Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi (Lake Nyasa) — Otopharynx antron Cleaver, Konings & Stauffer, 2009