Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Petrotilapia sp. "Likoma Barred"

Petrotilapia sp. "Likoma Barred" "Likoma Island"

Likoma Island — lee-KOH-mah 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 sp. "Likoma Barred" account →

Specific to Likoma 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 sp. "Likoma Barred".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–49 ft3–15 m
DietAlgae specialist; scrapes tough, wave-hardened algal turf from exposed rock using broad, closely packed teeth.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; larger than typical small mbuna given larger adult size
Sexual dimorphismYesTrade name implies males show a vertically barred breeding pattern; the genus is additionally prone to multiple coexisting male colour morphs at a single site. Females duller.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Likoma Island population

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

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

About the species

Petrotilapia sp. "Likoma Barred" is an undescribed rock-scraping mbuna from the reefs around Likoma Island, in central Lake Malawi, recorded at Likoma Island itself, Ndumbi Rocks, and Taiwanee Reef. Its trade name describes a vertically barred colour pattern in breeding males, one of the many locally distinct morphs that make Petrotilapia one of the most taxonomically difficult genera in the lake — a group notorious for multiple, visually different male colour forms occurring even within a single population.

Full Petrotilapia sp. "Likoma Barred" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Petrotilapia sp. "Likoma Barred" "Likoma Island"
  2. malawi.si — Petrotilapia (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority; Petrotilapia polymorphism)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Petrotilapia (genus profile)