Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Nankumba" "Cape Maclear"

Cape Maclearkayp muh-KLEER (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 Nankumba" account →

Specific to Cape Maclear

  • 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 Nankumba".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–66 ft5–20 m
DietSmall benthic invertebrates picked from sand and rock surfaces (working assessment; no dedicated study of this form)
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; genus-typical, several dozen to roughly 100 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesMales in nuptial colour typically far brighter than the silvery, cryptic females, following the genus pattern; specific male colour not documented for this form.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Cape Maclear population

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

Colour reference: living Cape Maclear fish at malawi.si

About the species

Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Nankumba" is an undescribed haplochromine cichlid known from the Nankumba Peninsula in southern Lake Malawi — the stretch of rocky and sandy shoreline around Cape Maclear, Otter Point and Thumbi West Island that forms the core of Lake Malawi National Park and is among the most intensively studied reaches of the lake. It belongs to Otopharynx, a genus of sand- and rock-associated haplochromines that includes some of the lake’s most colourful "peacock"-type males. The trade name pairs a descriptive term referring to the fish’s teeth with the peninsula where it lives. No authority, FishBase record or IUCN status exists for it, and none should be invented.

Full Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Nankumba" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx sp. "Heterodon Nankumba" "Cape Maclear"
  2. malawi.si — Otopharynx species database
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — Otopharynx genus profiles
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)