Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis domirae

Placidochromis domirae "Domira Bay"

Domira Bay — doh-MEE-rah 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 domirae account →

Specific to Domira 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 domirae.

IUCNDATA DEFICIENT · 2018
DDnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.7 in9.3 cm standard length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.8–8.6alkaline
Depth256–259 ft78–79 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 Domira Bay population

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

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

About the species

Placidochromis domirae 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 Domira Bay on the central-western Malawian shore, where its type series was trawled from around 78-79 m. Like its many deep-water relatives, it is documented from preserved specimens rather than from the living, brightly coloured fish that divers see in the shallows, and its name simply records the one bay it comes from.

Full Placidochromis domirae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis domirae "Domira Bay"
  2. FishBase — Placidochromis domirae Hanssens, 2004 (SpecCode 62394; size, distribution, depth 78-79 m, IUCN)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis domirae (valid name, authorship, type data; type locality Domira Bay, Malawi, 78-79 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 domirae (etymology: toponym for Domira Bay, Lake Malawi, Malawi)
  6. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (deep-water Placidochromis and Malawi hap ecology, background reference)