Pseudotropheus sp. "Perspicax Likoma" "Masimbwe Island"

Masimbwe Islandmah-SEEM-bweh 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. "Perspicax Likoma" account →

Specific to Masimbwe 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. "Perspicax Likoma".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth7–49 ft2–15 m
DietAlgae grazer — aufwuchs and associated diatoms/micro-invertebrates rasped from rock
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; genus-typical, a few dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesPresumed present, following the near-universal mbuna pattern of brighter dominant males; the specific colour pattern of this population is not documented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Masimbwe Island population

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

Colour reference: living Masimbwe Island fish at malawi.si

About the species

Pseudotropheus sp. "Perspicax Likoma" is an undescribed rock-dwelling mbuna recorded from Masimbwe Island, a small island close to Likoma Island in the mid-lake waters of Lake Malawi. It is the second of two named populations sharing the trade epithet "Perspicax" — this fish and a northern population from Gallireya Reef, traded as Pseudotropheus sp. "Perspicax Hara" — and like every fish in this category it has no describing author, no FishBase page and no IUCN assessment.

Full Pseudotropheus sp. "Perspicax Likoma" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Pseudotropheus sp. "Perspicax Likoma" "Masimbwe Island"
  2. Cichlid Room Companion — genus Pseudotropheus
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)