Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Rhamphochromis sp. "Longsnout"

Rhamphochromis sp. "Longsnout" "Nkhata Bay"

Nkhata Bay — n-KAH-tah 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. "Longsnout" account →

Specific to Nkhata 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. "Longsnout".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size9.5 in24 cm total length
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)slightly hardup to 179 ppm
Depth10–197 ft3–60 m
DietPelagic piscivore; pursues small open-water fish such as usipa (Engraulicypris sardella) and juvenile utaka, taking zooplankton more heavily when young
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismYesNot confidently documented for this form; genus-typical fresh males show a bluish-grey to greenish metallic sheen, females plainer and more silvery.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

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

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

About the species

Rhamphochromis sp. "Longsnout" is an undescribed member of Lake Malawi's pelagic "cuda" cichlids, recorded from Nkhata Bay in the north-central lake and from the South East Arm hundreds of kilometres away — a spread consistent with a genus that patrols open water rather than holding a reef. Its trade name is a plain physical description: field observers judged its snout noticeably longer than that of the already long-jawed Rhamphochromis around it. It has no scientific name, no describing author, and no IUCN assessment, and none should be attached to it.

Full Rhamphochromis sp. "Longsnout" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Rhamphochromis sp. "Longsnout" "Nkhata Bay"
  2. Turner, Robinson, Ngatunga, Shaw & Carvalho — Identification and biology of Diplotaxodon, Rhamphochromis and Pallidochromis (genus diagnosis and identification difficulty)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Fricke, Eschmeyer & Van der Laan, eds., CAS) — searched: no valid name for the undescribed "Longsnout" form