Rhamphochromis ferox "South East Arm"

South East ArmSOWTH EEST ARM (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 Rhamphochromis ferox account →

Specific to South East Arm

  • 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 Rhamphochromis ferox.

CARESNOT LISTED
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depthnot recorded
DietPiscivorous open-water predator, ambushing smaller fish in mid-water; genus also takes zooplankton
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodernot documented
Sexual dimorphismYesSexual dimorphism presumed typical of haplochromine cichlids; specific pattern not documented for this species.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The South East Arm population

Rhamphochromis ferox "South East Arm" is the South East Arm population of Rhamphochromis ferox, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Rhamphochromis ferox, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living South East Arm fish at malawi.si

About the species

Rhamphochromis ferox is a pelagic, pike-like predatory cichlid documented from the South East Arm of Lake Malawi, one of a genus of elongated, silvery open-water hunters that patrol the lake far from any reef or sandy shore. Its epithet, Latin for "fierce," fits a genus built entirely around fast, ambush-style predation on other fish in mid-water, a striking contrast to the substrate-bound life of the mbuna and most other Malawi cichlids.

Full Rhamphochromis ferox account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Rhamphochromis ferox "South East Arm"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Rhamphochromis ferox
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)