Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis boops

Placidochromis boops "Senga Bay"

Senga Bay — SEHN-gah BAY (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 boops account →

Specific to Senga Bay

  • 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 boops.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.4 in11.2 cm standard length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.8–8.6alkaline
Depth243–410 ft74–125 m
DietPresumed benthic invertivore (no direct study; inferred from genus and deep-water habitat; trophic level ~3.3 per FishBase)
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 Senga Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Senga Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Placidochromis boops is a small, large-eyed deep-water cichlid endemic to the southern part of Lake Malawi, described in 2004 by Mark Hanssens in his revision of the lake's deep-living Placidochromis. It lives at depths of roughly 75 to 125 metres, far below diving range, in the dim middle layers of the lake. Its name — Greek for 'cow-eyed' — captures the conspicuously large eyes that fit a life in low light.

Full Placidochromis boops account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis boops "Senga Bay"
  2. FishBase — Placidochromis boops Hanssens, 2004 (SpecCode 62390; size, distribution, depth 74-125 m, meristics, IUCN LC 2018)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis boops (valid name, authorship, type data; spid 68366)
  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 boops Hanssens, 2004 (occurrence and taxonomic backbone)