Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji"

Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji" "Penga Penga Island"

Penga Penga Island — PEHN-gah PEHN-gah EYE-land (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 Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji" account →

Specific to Penga Penga Island

  • 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 Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size8 in20 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth16–82 ft5–25 m
DietPresumed ambush piscivore preying on small mbuna near rocky cover, by analogy with the closely resembling S. modestus
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical)not documented for this form; expected several dozen eggs by analogy with S. modestus's moderate-to-large adult size
Sexual dimorphismYesNot separately documented; by resemblance to S. modestus, a subdued dark-brown camouflage base with a small pattern of spots visible under stress is expected, likely intensifying in breeding males.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Penga Penga Island population

Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji" "Penga Penga Island" is the Penga Penga Island population of Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji", 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 Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Penga Penga Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji" is an undescribed cichlid from the Mbenji Island group in central Lake Malawi, recorded at nearby Penga Penga Island. The trade name signals its resemblance to the described species Stigmatochromis modestus — itself already known from a Mbenji Island locality population — while marking this population as one that field workers and hobbyists keep separate under its own informal tag rather than folding it into modestus outright. Like other members of the genus it is a moderately large, cryptically coloured ambush predator of the rock-sand interface. It has no formal description, no describing author, and no Red List assessment.

Full Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Stigmatochromis sp. "Modestus Mbenji" "Penga Penga Island"
  2. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost field authority on Lake Malawi cichlids)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Fricke, Eschmeyer & Van der Laan, eds., CAS) — searched: no valid name for the undescribed "Modestus Mbenji" form (genus Stigmatochromis record)