Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Otopharynx mumboensis

Otopharynx mumboensis "Mumbo Island"

Mumbo Island — MOOM-boh 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 Otopharynx mumboensis account →

Specific to Mumbo 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 Otopharynx mumboensis.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.6 in11.6 cm standard length
Temperature75–79 °F24–26 °C
pH7.5–8.5alkaline
Depth20–30 ft6–9 m
DietDiet unknown; enlarged molariform pharyngeal teeth and fine gravel in the gut suggest a benthic feeder, possibly on hard-shelled invertebrates
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (inferred from genus/flock; not directly documented)Unrecorded; likely small (a few dozen eggs) for a hap of this size
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedMale nuptial coloration undocumented; known living individuals appeared to be females or young. A yellow anal-fin eggspot is present.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mumbo Island population

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

Colour reference: living Mumbo Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Otopharynx mumboensis is a small, deep-bodied haplochromine cichlid described by Michael Oliver in 2018 and, as far as is known, endemic to a single place — Mumbo Island in the southwest arm of Lake Malaŵi. Long familiar to aquarists as 'Protomelas sp. virgatus mumbo', it carries the diagnostic Otopharynx three-spot melanic pattern and has notably enlarged, molar-like pharyngeal teeth. Apparently rare even at its one known island, it is the first formally named non-mbuna cichlid restricted to Mumbo.

Full Otopharynx mumboensis account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx mumboensis "Mumbo Island"
  2. Oliver, M.K., 2018 — Six New Species of the Cichlid Genus Otopharynx from Lake Malaŵi (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 59(2):159–199 (original description; diagnosis, type locality, habitat, dentition, conservation)
  3. FishBase — Otopharynx mumboensis Oliver, 2018 (SpecCode 69293; size, distribution, etymology, type locality)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Otopharynx mumboensis Oliver, 2018 (valid name, authorship, type locality)
  5. The ETYFish Project — Otopharynx mumboensis (etymology: adjective referring to Mumbo Island)
  6. GBIF — Otopharynx mumboensis Oliver, 2018 (taxonomy and occurrence)