Pseudotropheus brevis "Chinyamwezi Island"

Chinyamwezi Islandcheen-yahm-WEH-zee EYE-land (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 Pseudotropheus brevis account →

Specific to Chinyamwezi Island

  • 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 Pseudotropheus brevis.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth3–49 ft1–15 m
DietAufwuchs grazer (algae/diatoms bitten from rock; genus-typical, not species-confirmed)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)not documented for this species; expected modest (a few dozen eggs)
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical expectation of more vividly coloured breeding males vs. duller females; specific colour scheme not confirmed here.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chinyamwezi Island population

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

Colour reference: living Chinyamwezi Island fish at malawi.si

About the species

Pseudotropheus brevis is a rock-dwelling mbuna of Lake Malawi whose Latin name, "short," points to a compact, stocky body relative to the more elongate build of many related Pseudotropheus. It is documented from two southern-lake islands, Boadzulu and Chinyamwezi, sites separated by a meaningful stretch of open water, hinting at a species with more than a single-reef distribution. Like all mbuna, it lives its entire life within a few metres of the rocky shoreline where it hatched, grazing algae and defending a patch of territory against rivals.

Full Pseudotropheus brevis account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Pseudotropheus brevis "Chinyamwezi Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Species search (California Academy of Sciences; authority for valid names)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)