Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus Metangula" "Metangula"

Metangulameh-tahn-GOO-lah (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. "Phenochilus Metangula" account →

Specific to Metangula

  • 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. "Phenochilus Metangula".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 357 ppm
Depth49–115 ft15–35 m
DietPresumed follower invertivore, taking small prey exposed by larger sand-sifting species; genus-typical, following the pattern of the close relative P. phenochilus.
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooderroughly 20–50 fry per spawn (inferred from the closely related phenochilus-type group; not documented for this form)
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot documented for this population; whether it carries the true white-lip pattern of P. phenochilus or the metallic blotching of the Tanzanian phenochilus-type form is unrecorded.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Metangula population

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

Colour reference: living Metangula fish at malawi.si

About the species

Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus Metangula" is an undescribed sand-dwelling haplochromine recorded from Metangula on the Mozambican shore of Lake Malawi. Its trade name links it to the described white-lipped species Placidochromis phenochilus, known from the Malawian northwest, though this Mozambique population is geographically separate from both that species' confirmed range and from the similarly named Tanzanian form sold as "phenochilus tanzania," and it has not itself been formally described.

Full Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus Metangula" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus Metangula" "Metangula"
  2. malawi.si — Placidochromis (Konings-based species database; Malawi genus overview)
  3. Konings, A. — 'The blue sand-dwellers,' Cichlids Yearbook vol. 1 (Cichlid Press, 1991)
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — Placidochromis (genus profile)