Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Sciaenochromis sp. "Spot Bicuspid"

Sciaenochromis sp. "Spot Bicuspid" "Chilola Bay"

Chilola Bay — chee-LOH-lah 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 Sciaenochromis sp. "Spot Bicuspid" account →

Specific to Chilola 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 Sciaenochromis sp. "Spot Bicuspid".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7 in18 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 339 ppm
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 Chilola Bay population

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

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

About the species

Sciaenochromis sp. "Spot Bicuspid" is an undescribed predatory cichlid recorded from Chilola Bay on Lake Malawi's Mozambican shore, distinguished by a flank spot combined with two-pointed (bicuspid) outer teeth — a combination of colour and dental characters used to sort it from other, superficially similar unassigned Sciaenochromis populations. It belongs to the same small genus of open-water hunters as the widely traded electric-blue S. fryeri; no authority, formal description or conservation status attaches to it.

Full Sciaenochromis sp. "Spot Bicuspid" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Sciaenochromis sp. "Spot Bicuspid" "Chilola Bay"
  2. Sciaenochromis | Cichlid Room Companion (genus profile, valid & undescribed species)
  3. malawi.si — Sciaenochromis species and locality-form database (Konings-based; distribution, biotope)
  4. FishBase — Sciaenochromis ahli summary (size, depth, chemistry, IUCN)