Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis acutirostris

Placidochromis acutirostris "Matema"

Matema — mah-TEH-mah (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 Placidochromis acutirostris account →

Specific to Matema

  • 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 Placidochromis acutirostris.

IUCNDATA DEFICIENT · 2018
DDnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in11.4 cm standard length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.8–8.6alkaline
Depth98–200 ft30–61 m
DietPresumed benthic invertivore (no direct study; inferred from genus and deep-water habitat)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (inferred from Malawi haplochromine flock; not documented for this species)Unrecorded for this species
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot documented; known mainly from preserved, trawled specimens, so live coloration and dimorphism are unrecorded.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Matema population

Placidochromis acutirostris "Matema" is the Matema population of Placidochromis acutirostris, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Placidochromis acutirostris, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Matema fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Placidochromis acutirostris is a small, elongate deep-water cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, named in 2004 by Mark Hanssens in his revision of the lake's deep-living Placidochromis. It is recorded from Wissman Bay in the far north of the lake, in Tanzanian waters, where it has been taken at depths of roughly 30 to 60 metres. As its name 'sharp snout' suggests, an attenuated, pointed snout is part of what marks it out from its many congeners.

Full Placidochromis acutirostris account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis acutirostris "Matema"
  2. FishBase — Placidochromis acutirostris Hanssens, 2004 (SpecCode 62392; size, distribution, depth 30-61 m, IUCN)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis acutirostris (valid name, authorship, type data)
  4. Hanssens, M., 2004 — The deep-water Placidochromis species. In: J. Snoeks (ed.), The Cichlid Diversity of Lake Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa, pp. 104-197. Cichlid Press (original description)
  5. Lewis, D.S.C., 1982 — Description of Placidochromis (genus establishment)
  6. GBIF — Placidochromis acutirostris Hanssens, 2004 (occurrence and taxonomic backbone)