Otopharynx sp. "Golf-head Blue" "Lutara Reef"

Lutara Reefloo-TAH-rah REEF (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. "Golf-head Blue" account →

Specific to Lutara Reef

  • 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. "Golf-head Blue".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
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 blue breeding colour and a rounded head profile; females plainer. Precise pattern not formally documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Lutara Reef population

Otopharynx sp. "Golf-head Blue" "Lutara Reef" is the Lutara Reef population of Otopharynx sp. "Golf-head Blue", 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. "Golf-head Blue", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Lutara Reef fish at malawi.si

About the species

Otopharynx sp. "Golf-head Blue" is an undescribed cichlid recorded at Lutara Reef in Lake Malawi. Its trade name combines a blue breeding coloration with "golf-head," a descriptor most likely referring to a rounded, smoothly domed head profile in males, though the exact feature the name is meant to capture has not been the subject of any published description.

Full Otopharynx sp. "Golf-head Blue" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx sp. "Golf-head Blue" "Lutara Reef"
  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)