Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Ikombe"

Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Ikombe" "Matema"

Matema — mah-TEH-mah (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. "Heterodon Ikombe" account →

Specific to Matema

  • 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. "Heterodon Ikombe".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth66–164 ft20–50 m
DietPresumed benthic invertivore picking prey — likely molluscs and insect larvae — from soft, deep-lake sediment using an elongated snout, following the pattern of its close relative O. heterodon.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismYesDichromatism assumed on general Malawi cichlid grounds; the specific pattern for this form is not documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Matema population

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

Colour reference: living Matema fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Ikombe" is an undescribed deep-water cichlid recorded at Matema on the northern Tanzanian shore of Lake Malawi, close to the village of Ikombe from which its trade name is drawn. It belongs to the same informal group as the formally described Otopharynx heterodon — deep, sediment-associated haplochromines with an elongated snout adapted for picking prey from soft lake-floor substrate rather than grazing hard surfaces.

Full Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Ikombe" account →

Sources

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