Pseudotropheus sp. "Polit Tumbi" "Tumbi Point"

Tumbi PointTOOM-bee POYNT (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. "Polit Tumbi" account →

Specific to Tumbi Point

  • 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. "Polit Tumbi".

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 population; the related Tanzanian Polit complex is reported at 30–35 eggs per spawn
Sexual dimorphismYesNot independently documented for this population; the related Tanzanian Polit complex shows rank-dependent icy-blue males with a dark face mask against plainer brown-grey females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Tumbi Point population

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

Colour reference: living Tumbi Point fish at malawi.si

About the species

Pseudotropheus sp. "Polit Tumbi" is an undescribed mbuna recorded from Tumbi Point on the Mozambican shore of Lake Malawi, well south of the Tanzanian reefs near Lupingu and Lion's Cove where the better-known Pseudotropheus sp. "Polit" was first documented. It carries the same descriptive trade name — "Polit" — appended with its own collection-point tag, but whether it represents the same variable complex at its southern range limit or a separate, similarly patterned form is not established. As with every fish in this category, it has no describing author, no FishBase page and no IUCN assessment.

Full Pseudotropheus sp. "Polit Tumbi" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Pseudotropheus sp. "Polit Tumbi" "Tumbi Point"
  2. malawi.si — Lupingu, Lake Malawi, Tanzania (background on the related Polit-complex type locality)
  3. Cichlid Room Companion — genus Pseudotropheus
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)