Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr"

Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr" "Leopard Bay"

Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr" (Leopard Bay)

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. "High-fin Low-gr" account →

Specific to Leopard Bay

  • 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. "High-fin Low-gr".

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
Depth33–98 ft10–30 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 develop a notably elevated or extended dorsal fin in breeding condition; females plainer and lower-finned. Precise pattern not formally documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Leopard Bay population

Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr" "Leopard Bay" is the Leopard Bay population of Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr", 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. "High-fin Low-gr", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Leopard Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr" is an undescribed cichlid recorded at Leopard Bay on the western Malawian shore of Lake Malawi. Like Otopharynx sp. "High Fin," its trade name flags an elevated, extended dorsal fin in breeding males; the "Low-GR" qualifier most plausibly abbreviates a low gill-raker count, a meristic character routinely used in the scientific literature to separate closely related Malawi haplochromines, though the exact intent behind the tag has not been explained in any publication and should be read with that caveat.

Full Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx sp. "High-fin Low-gr" "Leopard Bay"
  2. malawi.si — Otopharynx sp. "high-fin low-GR" (Konings-based species database; Leopard Bay record)
  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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