Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Longnose" "Hongi Island"
Hongi Island — HOHN-gee 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 sp. "Heterodon Longnose" account →Specific to Hongi 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 sp. "Heterodon Longnose".
The Hongi Island population
Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Longnose" "Hongi Island" is the Hongi Island population of Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Longnose", a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Longnose", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Hongi Island fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Longnose" is an undescribed cichlid from deep water off the Tanzanian shore of Lake Malawi, recorded at Hongi Island, Lundo Island, and Thumbi Point. Its trade name links it to Otopharynx heterodon, a formally described deep-water relative named for its unusual dentition, and to the elongated snout the two fish share — an adaptation associated with picking prey from deep, sediment-covered substrate rather than grazing rock or open sand.
Full Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Longnose" account →