Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis msakae

Placidochromis msakae "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 msakae 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 msakae.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in8.5 cm standard length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.8–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 357 ppm
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 msakae "Msaka" is the Msaka population of Placidochromis msakae, a geographic colour form from Lake Malawi in Lake Malawi part of the lake. It is the same species as Placidochromis msakae, 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 msakae 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 msakae is a toponym, honouring Msaka — the fishing village and long-running collection locality on the lake's southwest arm from which the type material was drawn. 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 msakae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis msakae "Msaka"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis msakae (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)