Pseudotropheus sp. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania" "Undu Reef"

Undu ReefOON-doo REEF (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. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania" account →

Specific to Undu Reef

  • 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. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in11 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–49 ft3–15 m
DietAlgae grazer (Aufwuchs); comb-like unicuspid teeth scrape algal films and associated small invertebrates from rock surfaces.
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; expected modest (a few dozen eggs)
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males show blue body colouration (the character that names this population); no further pattern detail is documented. Females and subordinate males are plainer.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Undu Reef population

Pseudotropheus sp. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania" "Undu Reef" is the Undu Reef population of Pseudotropheus sp. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania", a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Pseudotropheus sp. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Undu Reef fish at malawi.si

About the species

Pseudotropheus sp. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania" is an undescribed mbuna documented from Chiwindi on the Mozambican shore and Undu Reef on the Tanzanian shore — two localities at opposite ends of the lake grouped under this single trade name in the hobby literature. Its epithet "Lucerna" is Latin for lamp or lantern; the precise significance of the term for this population's appearance is not established in accessible references, and no link to a specific described species is asserted. "Blue" and "Tanzania" mark the population's blue colouration and northern collection point. No authority, year, FishBase number, or IUCN status should ever be attached to it.

Full Pseudotropheus sp. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Pseudotropheus sp. "Lucerna Blue Tanzania" "Undu Reef"
  2. Cichlid Room Companion — Pseudotropheus genus profile
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost Malawi authority)