Pseudotropheus novemfasciatus "Chia"
Pseudotropheus novemfasciatus (Chia)
Chia — CHEE-ah (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 novemfasciatus account →Specific to Chia
- 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 novemfasciatus.
The Chia population
Pseudotropheus novemfasciatus "Chia" is the Chia population of Pseudotropheus novemfasciatus, 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 Pseudotropheus novemfasciatus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Chia fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Pseudotropheus novemfasciatus is a rock-dwelling mbuna documented from Chia on Lake Malawi's western shore, its Latin name — "nine-banded" — describing the vertical barring pattern that runs down its flanks. Like the rest of the mbuna, it lives out its life on a patch of rocky reef, grazing algae from the stone with specialised comb-like teeth and defending its territory against almost anything that swims too close, from rivals to intruding females.
Full Pseudotropheus novemfasciatus account →