Otopharynx sp. "Round Head" "Nkhotakota"

Nkhotakotan-koh-tah-KOH-tah (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. "Round Head" account →

Specific to Nkhotakota

  • 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. "Round Head".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–82 ft5–25 m
DietPresumed benthic invertivore, picking small crustaceans and insect larvae directly from open sand or rock surfaces; not directly documented for this form.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; modest, genus-typical
Sexual dimorphismYesDichromatism assumed on general Malawi cichlid grounds; the specific pattern for this form is not documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhotakota population

Otopharynx sp. "Round Head" "Nkhotakota" is the Nkhotakota population of Otopharynx sp. "Round Head", a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the south-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Otopharynx sp. "Round Head", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Nkhotakota fish at malawi.si

About the species

Otopharynx sp. "Round Head" is an undescribed cichlid recorded at Nkhotakota on the central-western Malawian shore of Lake Malawi. Its trade name describes a rounded, blunt head profile, distinguishing it in the field from the more elongated, pointed-snout Otopharynx forms — including several other undescribed forms recorded at the same locality — with which it shares this stretch of shoreline.

Full Otopharynx sp. "Round Head" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx sp. "Round Head" "Nkhotakota"
  2. malawi.si — Otopharynx sp. "round head" (Konings-based species database; Nkhotakota record)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Otopharynx (genus profile)