Pseudotropheus sp. "Crabro Blue" "Chitande Island"
Chitande Island — chee-TAHN-deh 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 sp. "Crabro Blue" account →Specific to Chitande 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 sp. "Crabro Blue".
The Chitande Island population
Pseudotropheus sp. "Crabro Blue" "Chitande Island" is the Chitande Island population of Pseudotropheus sp. "Crabro Blue", a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Pseudotropheus sp. "Crabro Blue", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Chitande Island fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Pseudotropheus sp. "Crabro Blue" is an undescribed mbuna recorded from Chitande Island and Nkanda on the Tanzanian shore in the far north of Lake Malawi. Its trade name references the described species Pseudotropheus crabro — the "bumblebee" or "hornet" cichlid, named for the black-and-yellow banding of its males — while "Blue" marks this northern population's blue-toned colouration in place of the nominate form's black-and-yellow bands. It is recognised informally in the field and aquarium literature, and no authority, year, FishBase number, or IUCN status should ever be attached to it.
Full Pseudotropheus sp. "Crabro Blue" account →