Petrotilapia sp. "Black Flank" "Mphanga Rocks"
Mphanga Rocks — m-PAHN-gah ROKS (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 sp. "Black Flank" account →Specific to Mphanga Rocks
- 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 sp. "Black Flank".
The Mphanga Rocks population
Petrotilapia sp. "Black Flank" "Mphanga Rocks" is the Mphanga Rocks population of Petrotilapia sp. "Black Flank", a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Petrotilapia sp. "Black Flank", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Mphanga Rocks fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Petrotilapia sp. "Black Flank" is an undescribed rock-dwelling mbuna recorded from Katale Island and Mphanga Rocks on the Malawian shore near Chilumba, in the northern part of the lake. Its trade name marks the dark, near-black flank colouration typical of dominant males in this genus of algae-grazing cichlids — a genus notorious among Malawi specialists for holding far more distinct local forms than the handful that have been formally described. It is recognised informally in the field and aquarium literature, and no authority, year, FishBase number, or IUCN status should ever be attached to it.
Full Petrotilapia sp. "Black Flank" account →