Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Placidochromis sp. "Electra Type"

Placidochromis sp. "Electra Type" "Nkhomo Reef"

Nkhomo Reef — n-KOH-moh REEF (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 sp. "Electra Type" account →

Specific to Nkhomo Reef

  • 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 sp. "Electra Type".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–66 ft5–20 m
DietSand-rock interface invertivore, picking small benthic prey from sand and rock; genus-typical, following the pattern of the close relative P. electra.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodera few dozen eggs (genus-typical, per P. electra)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales reported to show vivid, largely unpatterned blue breeding colour regarded as closely matching the nominal species; females expected plainer and greyer.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhomo Reef population

Placidochromis sp. "Electra Type" "Nkhomo Reef" is the Nkhomo Reef population of Placidochromis sp. "Electra Type", 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 sp. "Electra Type", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Nkhomo Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Placidochromis sp. "Electra Type" is an undescribed blue haplochromine recorded from Nkhomo Reef in northern Lake Malawi. The qualifier "Type" is a collector's term marking this population as the one whose colour pattern is regarded as closest to the classic appearance associated with the described Placidochromis electra, even though Nkhomo Reef lies well outside that species' documented type locality and the form itself carries no formal description.

Full Placidochromis sp. "Electra Type" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis sp. "Electra Type" "Nkhomo Reef"
  2. malawi.si — Placidochromis (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 5th ed. (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi field authority)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Placidochromis (genus profile)