Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Petrotilapia kitrinos

Petrotilapia kitrinos "Mumbo Island"

Mumbo Island — MOOM-boh 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 Petrotilapia kitrinos account →

Specific to Mumbo 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 Petrotilapia kitrinos.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.9 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth0–82 ft0–25 m
DietCombs aufwuchs (algae and associated micro-organisms) from rock; limnivorous grazer
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~20-40 eggs (genus-typical; not individually documented)
Sexual dimorphismYesYellow-toned species (the 'mumbo yellow'); coloration tied to sex and social status, strongest in displaying territorial males, with males larger than females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mumbo Island population

Petrotilapia kitrinos "Mumbo Island" is the Mumbo Island population of Petrotilapia kitrinos, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Petrotilapia kitrinos, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Mumbo Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Petrotilapia kitrinos is a yellow rock-grazing mbuna from Lake Malawi, long known to aquarists and field workers as Petrotilapia 'mumbo yellow' before it received a formal name from Sabo, Konings and Stauffer in 2026. Restricted to the rocky shores of Mumbo Island in the lake's southern reaches, it is a thick-lipped, tricuspid-toothed aufwuchs comber like the rest of its genus, distinguished mainly by the yellow cast that gave it both its trade name and its scientific epithet (Greek kitrinos, 'yellow').

Full Petrotilapia kitrinos account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Petrotilapia kitrinos "Mumbo Island"
  2. Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS) — Petrotilapia kitrinos Sabo, Konings & Stauffer 2026 (valid name, type locality Mumbo Island)
  3. Sabo, Konings & Stauffer, 2026 — original description of Petrotilapia kitrinos (formerly Petrotilapia 'mumbo yellow')
  4. Lundeba, M., J. R. Stauffer & A. F. Konings, 2011 — Five new species of Petrotilapia; genus diagnosis, tooth structure, and the three habitat groups. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 22(2):149-168 (PDF)
  5. Ribbink, A. J. et al., 1983 — A preliminary survey of the cichlid fishes of rocky habitats in Lake Malawi (origin of the 'mumbo yellow' provisional name)
  6. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press): Petrotilapia habitat groups and Mumbo Island fauna