Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis chilolae

Placidochromis chilolae "Chilola Bay"

Chilola Bay — chee-LOH-lah 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 chilolae account →

Specific to Chilola 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 chilolae.

IUCNDATA DEFICIENT · 2018
DDnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.9 in7.4 cm standard length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.8–8.6alkaline
Depth167–187 ft51–57 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 breeding coloration and dimorphism are unrecorded.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chilola Bay population

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

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

About the species

Placidochromis chilolae is a small, deep-water haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, described in 2004 by Mark Hanssens in his monographic revision of the lake's deep-living Placidochromis. It is known only from Chilola Bay on the Mozambican shore, where it was trawled from 51-57 m, below the reach of divers. Its name simply marks that single bay, and like its many deep-water relatives it is documented from preserved specimens rather than from the living, brightly coloured fish familiar in the shallows.

Full Placidochromis chilolae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis chilolae "Chilola Bay"
  2. FishBase — Placidochromis chilolae Hanssens, 2004 (SpecCode 62388; size, distribution, depth, IUCN)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis chilolae (valid name, authorship, type data; type locality Chilola Bay, Mozambique, 51-57 m)
  4. Hanssens, M., 2004 — The deep-water Placidochromis species. In: J. Snoeks (ed.), The Cichlid Diversity of Lake Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa: Identification, Distribution and Taxonomy, pp. 104-197. Cichlid Press (original description)
  5. ETYFish Project — Placidochromis chilolae (etymology: toponym for Chilola Bay, Lake Malawi, Mozambique)
  6. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (deep-water Placidochromis and Malawi hap ecology; chilolae as valid)