Otopharynx styrax "Ntekete"

Nteketen-teh-KEH-teh (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 styrax account →

Specific to Ntekete

  • 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 styrax.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–98 ft5–30 m
DietMixed plankton- and invertebrate-feeder typical of sand/open-water Otopharynx; species-specific diet not separately documented
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this species; expected several dozen eggs typical of medium-sized Otopharynx
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical dichromatism expected; species epithet suggests an amber/golden tone but precise pattern not confirmed.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Ntekete population

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

Colour reference: living Ntekete fish at malawi.si

About the species

Otopharynx styrax is a Lake Malawi haplochromine documented from a scatter of localities running most of the length of the lake, from Manda in the north to Masinje and Ntekete on the central-southern shore. It belongs to Otopharynx, a genus of mid-water and sand-associated cichlids that includes some of the lake's more strikingly coloured haps, several of which forage for zooplankton well off the bottom rather than sifting sand or grazing rock. Its precise ecological role and colour pattern are not fully documented in the sources available for this article, and this account is written with that limitation in mind.

Full Otopharynx styrax account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Otopharynx styrax "Ntekete"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Otopharynx styrax (species record; authority for valid names)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost field authority on Lake Malawi haplochromine cichlids)