Placidochromis ecclesi "South East Arm"

South East ArmSOWTH EEST ARM (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 ecclesi account →

Specific to South East Arm

  • 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 ecclesi.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.5 in6.3 cm standard length
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth315–410 ft96–125 m
DietPresumed benthic invertivore (no stomach-content data; trophic level ~3.2 estimated)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (inferred from the Malawi haplochromine flock; not documented for this species)Unrecorded for this species
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot documented; most Malawi haplochromines are strongly dimorphic in breeding males, but ecclesi's life colour is essentially unrecorded.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The South East Arm population

Placidochromis ecclesi "South East Arm" is the South East Arm population of Placidochromis ecclesi, 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 ecclesi, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living South East Arm fish at malawi.si

About the species

Placidochromis ecclesi is a small, deep-water haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, described in 2004 and known only from a handful of trawl and survey records on the deep sandy and muddy floor of the lake. It belongs to a cluster of deep-living Placidochromis revised by Mark Hanssens, and is named for the British ichthyologist David H. Eccles, who spent two decades studying Malawi's cichlids. Caught at depths of roughly 96 to 125 metres, it is far below the reach of recreational divers or the ornamental fishery, and is essentially unknown in the aquarium hobby.

Full Placidochromis ecclesi account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis ecclesi "South East Arm"
  2. FishBase — Placidochromis ecclesi Hanssens, 2004 (SpecCode 62395; size, depth, distribution, diagnosis, IUCN, trophic level)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis ecclesi (species record; authorship, type locality, valid-name status)
  4. Hanssens, M. 2004 — The deep-water Placidochromis species, pp. 104–197. In: Snoeks, J. (ed.) The Cichlid Diversity of Lake Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa: Identification, Distribution and Taxonomy. Cichlid Press, El Paso (original description)
  5. Catalog of Fishes — genus Placidochromis Trewavas, 1935 (genus record)
  6. Eponym Dictionary of Fishes — David Henry Eccles (1932–2021), honoured in the epithet 'ecclesi'