Placidochromis sp. "White-orange Dorsal" "Nkhata Bay"

Nkhata Bayn-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 sp. "White-orange Dorsal" 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 sp. "White-orange Dorsal".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.5 in14 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 339 ppm
Depth16–66 ft5–20 m
DietBenthic micro-invertivore of sand and the rock-sand transition (genus-typical Placidochromis)
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder (inferred from genus)not documented for this form; Placidochromis clutches scale with body size, roughly 50 to 120+ eggs across the genus
Sexual dimorphismYesDiagnostic trait is the male's white-to-orange dorsal fin; female and non-breeding colouration undocumented in detail.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

Placidochromis sp. "White-orange Dorsal" "Nkhata Bay" is the Nkhata Bay population of Placidochromis sp. "White-orange Dorsal", 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 sp. "White-orange Dorsal", 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 sp. "White-orange Dorsal" is an undescribed sand-dwelling cichlid recorded from Nkhata Bay on the north-central shore of Lake Malawi. Its trade name is a literal description of the one feature collectors consistently report: a dorsal fin that runs white toward the front and orange toward the rear in colored-up males, a pattern used to separate it from the several other blue-toned Placidochromis-type haps also taken at Nkhata Bay. It has never been given a formal scientific name, and no authority, IUCN status, or FishBase entry should be attached to it.

Full Placidochromis sp. "White-orange Dorsal" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Placidochromis sp. "White-orange Dorsal" "Nkhata Bay"
  2. Cichlid Room Companion — genus Placidochromis
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)