Rhamphochromis woodi "Narungu"

Narungunah-ROON-goo (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 woodi account →

Specific to Narungu

  • 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 woodi.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size10 in25 cm total length
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Hardness (GH)slightly hardup to 179 ppm
Depth7–197 ft2–60 m
DietPelagic piscivore (small open-water fish)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderNot documented for this species
Sexual dimorphismYesNot confidently documented for this species; mature males in the better-studied congener R. esox develop brighter nuptial colour including orange fins and anal-fin egg-spots.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Narungu population

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

Colour reference: living Narungu fish at malawi.si

About the species

Rhamphochromis woodi is one of Lake Malawi's open-water, pike-like predatory cichlids, part of the notoriously difficult genus Rhamphochromis whose elongate, silvery species patrol the lake's pelagic zone in loose, often mixed schools. Its species epithet is a personal eponym, honouring an individual associated with its collection or description whose identity is not confirmed here. Documented from the central and south-central lake around Narungu, Nkhata Bay and the South East Arm, it belongs to a group that Malawian fishers collectively call mcheni and that specialists still find genuinely difficult to sort into species.

Full Rhamphochromis woodi account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Rhamphochromis woodi "Narungu"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — search interface (authority for the valid name)
  3. FishBase — Rhamphochromis woodi species summary
  4. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)