Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila"

Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila" "Masinje"

Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila" (Masinje)

Masinje — mah-SEEN-jeh (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 Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila" account →

Specific to Masinje

  • 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 Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila".

CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesSciaenochromis ahlidescribed as Haplochromis ahli Trewavas 1935
Scientific size7 in18 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 339 ppm
Habitat watermoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppmLake Malawi
Depth16–131 ft5–40 m
DietPiscivore, presumed genus-typical predator of small fish (small mbuna and other small cichlids)
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder (inferred from genus/flock)not documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNot documented for this form; described congeners show strong male breeding colour against cryptic barred females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Masinje population

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

Colour reference: living Masinje fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila" is an undescribed predatory cichlid recorded from Masinje on Lake Malawi's southeastern shore. Its trade name carries a taxonomic echo: spilostichus was originally a Sciaenochromis species epithet before Ad Konings's 1993 revision reassigned that name to the genus Mylochromis, and this population's informal label preserves the old epithet alongside a locality tag rather than any confirmed relationship to that reassigned species. No authority, formal description or conservation status attaches to it.

Full Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Sciaenochromis sp. "Spilostichus Makanjila" "Masinje"
  2. Sciaenochromis | Cichlid Room Companion (genus profile, valid & undescribed species, incl. spilostichus reassignment history)
  3. malawi.si — Sciaenochromis species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  4. Konings, A. 1993. A revision of the genus Sciaenochromis Eccles & Trewavas, 1989 (Cichlids Yearbook 3:28–36) — reassignment of spilostichus to Mylochromis
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