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

Rhamphochromis sp. "Nkhwazi" "Makanjila Rocks"

Rhamphochromis sp. "Nkhwazi" (Kande Island, Makanjila Rocks)

Makanjila Rocks — mah-kahn-JEE-lah ROKS (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. "Nkhwazi" account →

Specific to Makanjila Rocks

  • 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. "Nkhwazi".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesRhamphochromis longicepsdescribed as Hemichromis longiceps Günther 1864
Scientific size8.5 in22 cm total length
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 179 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
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 greenish-to-bluish metallic sheen, females plainer and more silvery.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Makanjila Rocks population

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

Colour reference: living Makanjila Rocks fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Rhamphochromis sp. "Nkhwazi" is an undescribed pelagic predator of Lake Malawi, recorded from Kande Island in the north-central lake and Makanjila Rocks well to the south — two widely separated points that reflect the genus's roaming, open-water habits rather than a single reef territory. Its trade name borrows Nkhwazi, the Chichewa word for the African fish eagle, Malawi's national bird, an evocative field label rather than a taxonomic act. It has no formal scientific name, no describing author, and no IUCN assessment, and none of these should be invented for it.

Full Rhamphochromis sp. "Nkhwazi" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Rhamphochromis sp. "Nkhwazi" "Makanjila Rocks"
  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 "Nkhwazi" form
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