Pseudotropheus sp. "Thin Stripe" "Maingano Island"

Maingano Islandmah-een-GAH-noh 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. "Thin Stripe" account →

Specific to Maingano 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. "Thin Stripe".

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; diagnostic trait is narrow striping relative to the co-occurring Cynotilapia afra "Maingano", precise pattern otherwise undocumented.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Maingano Island population

Pseudotropheus sp. "Thin Stripe" "Maingano Island" is the Maingano Island population of Pseudotropheus sp. "Thin Stripe", 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. "Thin Stripe", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Maingano Island fish at malawi.si

About the species

Pseudotropheus sp. "Thin Stripe" is an undescribed mbuna recorded from Maingano Island in Lake Malawi, a small rocky island otherwise best known in the hobby as the type locality of the vividly barred Cynotilapia afra "Maingano". This Pseudotropheus is a separate, distinct fish from that famous namesake, distinguished in trade by narrower body striping. It has no describing author, no FishBase page and no IUCN assessment.

Full Pseudotropheus sp. "Thin Stripe" account →

Sources

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