Rhamphochromis woodi "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 woodi 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 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 South East Arm population

Rhamphochromis woodi "South East Arm" is the South East Arm population of Rhamphochromis woodi, 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 woodi, 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 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 "South East Arm"
  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)