Otopharynx peridodeka "South East Arm"

South East ArmSOWTH EEST ARM (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 peridodeka account →

Specific to South East Arm

  • 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 peridodeka.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm standard length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 357 ppm
Depth16–98 ft5–30 m
DietPresumed benthic invertivore picking small invertebrates from open sand (genus-typical; no direct study for this species)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderUnrecorded for this species; comparable medium-sized Otopharynx likely lay several dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot confirmed for this species; Otopharynx generally show male coloration in yellow, gold, or blue against a plainer female pattern.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The South East Arm population

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

Colour reference: living South East Arm fish at malawi.si

About the species

Otopharynx peridodeka is a sand-associated haplochromine cichlid documented from the South East Arm of Lake Malawi, one of the many superficially similar Otopharynx that the lake's taxonomists have continued to formally describe from its sandy shoals well into the 21st century. Like its relatives it belongs to the genus's distinctive laterally spotted, non-mbuna radiation, hunting small invertebrates over open sand rather than grazing algae from rock. The specific facts recorded here are limited to what the malawi.si field database documents and to secure genus-level biology; the precise original description behind the name peridodeka has not been verified against a primary source for this entry.

Full Otopharynx peridodeka account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx peridodeka "South East Arm"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Otopharynx peridodeka (valid name, authorship, type data)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi authority)