Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis minor

Placidochromis minor "Msaka"

Placidochromis minor (Msaka)

Msaka — m-SAH-kah (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 minor account →

Specific to Msaka

  • 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 minor.

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesPlacidochromis longimanusdescribed as Haplochromis longimanus Trewavas 1935
Scientific size3 in7.5 cm standard length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.8–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 357 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth66–262 ft20–80 m
DietPresumed benthic invertivore working deep sediment (no direct study; inferred from genus and habitat)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderUnrecorded for this species; comparable deep-water Placidochromis run from a few dozen to about a hundred eggs
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot documented; known mainly from preserved, trawled specimens, so breeding coloration and dimorphism are unrecorded.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Msaka population

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

Colour reference: living Msaka fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Placidochromis minor is a small, little-known haplochromine cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, one of the many deep-water Placidochromis named in a single stroke by the Belgian ichthyologist Mark Hanssens in his 2004 monographic revision of the genus. The epithet minor is Latin for 'smaller,' a comparative name marking this out as one of the smaller-bodied species among its deep-water Placidochromis relatives. It is documented from the Msaka area on the southwestern arm of Lake Malawi, near Monkey Bay, and like its many relatives in the same revision it is known chiefly from preserved, trawled specimens rather than from living, brightly coloured fish.

Full Placidochromis minor account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis minor "Msaka"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis minor (valid name, authorship, type data)
  3. 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 of the deep-water Placidochromis cohort)
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi authority)
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