Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface"

Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface" "Ikombe"

Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface" (Ikombe)

Ikombe — ee-KOHM-beh (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 sp. "Golden Blueface" account →

Specific to Ikombe

  • 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 sp. "Golden Blueface".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesOtopharynx auromarginatusdescribed as Tilapia auromarginata Boulenger 1908
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 446 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth33–82 ft10–25 m
DietPresumed sand/rock-interface invertivore, picking small crustaceans and insect larvae from the substrate; not directly documented for this form.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; modest, genus-typical
Sexual dimorphismYesTrade name implies males show golden body colour with a contrasting blue face; females plainer, silvery, and less conspicuously marked. Precise pattern not formally documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Ikombe population

Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface" "Ikombe" is the Ikombe population of Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface", a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Ikombe fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface" is an undescribed cichlid recorded at Ikombe, a village on the Tanzanian shore of northern Lake Malawi. Its trade name describes a two-tone breeding coloration in males — a golden body set against a blue face — a colour contrast documented informally across several Malawi haplochromine genera but not the subject of a published description for this particular population.

Full Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx sp. "Golden Blueface" "Ikombe"
  2. malawi.si — Otopharynx (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Otopharynx (genus profile)
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