Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis nkhatae

Placidochromis nkhatae "Nkhata Bay"

Nkhata Bay — n-KAH-tah 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 nkhatae account →

Specific to Nkhata 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 nkhatae.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 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 Nkhata Bay population

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

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

About the species

Placidochromis nkhatae 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 nkhatae is a toponym honouring Nkhata Bay, the well-known harbour town on the lake's northwestern shore from which the type material was drawn. It is documented from the Nkhata Bay area on the northwestern Malawian shore, 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 nkhatae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis nkhatae "Nkhata Bay"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Placidochromis nkhatae (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)