Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Rhamphochromis sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly"

Rhamphochromis sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly" "Senga Bay"

Senga Bay — SEHN-gah BAY (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 sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly" account →

Specific to Senga Bay

  • 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 sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size11 in28 cm total length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth7–197 ft2–60 m
DietPelagic predator, shifting from crustacean zooplankton in smaller fish to usipa (Engraulicypris sardella) larvae/juveniles and juvenile utaka in larger fish (genus-typical, per R. longiceps)
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder (inferred from genus/flock)not documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNot separately documented for this form beyond the yellow-tinted belly that names it.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Senga Bay population

Rhamphochromis sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly" "Senga Bay" is the Senga Bay population of Rhamphochromis sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly", 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 sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Senga Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Rhamphochromis sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly" is an undescribed pelagic cichlid recorded from Senga Bay on Lake Malawi's central-western shore, informally grouped with the described Rhamphochromis longiceps but distinguished in the field by a yellow-tinted belly. It shares the genus's pike-like build — an elongate torpedo body and a forward-projecting, beak-like jaw suited to chasing small fish through open water. As with the rest of the genus's unassigned field forms, no describing author, formal name or conservation status can be attached to it.

Full Rhamphochromis sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Rhamphochromis sp. "Longiceps Yellowbelly" "Senga Bay"
  2. malawi.si — Rhamphochromis species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  3. FishBase — Rhamphochromis longiceps (Tigerfish)
  4. Turner, Robinson, Ngatunga, Shaw & Carvalho — Identification & Biology of Diplotaxodon, Rhamphochromis and Pallidochromis