Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Taeniolethrinops furcicauda

Taeniolethrinops furcicauda "Chizumulu Island"

Chizumulu Island — chee-zoo-MOO-loo 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 Taeniolethrinops furcicauda account →

Specific to Chizumulu 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 Taeniolethrinops furcicauda.

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6.5 in17 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth26–115 ft8–35 m
DietSand-sifter; forages by taking mouthfuls of substrate and sorting out small benthic invertebrates
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this species; expected several dozen eggs given the genus's moderate-to-large adult size
Sexual dimorphismYesGenus-typical dichromatism expected in breeding males; species-specific colour pattern not confirmed.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chizumulu Island population

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

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

About the species

Taeniolethrinops furcicauda is a sand-dwelling Lake Malawi cichlid documented from a spread of localities along the lake's central-western shore, from Chizumulu Island in the north to Senga Bay in the south. Its name announces its most distinctive feature outright: furcicauda is Latin for 'forked tail,' marking a deeply forked caudal fin that sets it apart from the more rounded tails of many related sand-dwelling haplochromines. It belongs to Taeniolethrinops, a genus of elongated, striped haps closely related to Lethrinops, sharing that genus's habit of sifting open sand for buried invertebrates.

Full Taeniolethrinops furcicauda account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Taeniolethrinops furcicauda "Chizumulu Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Taeniolethrinops furcicauda (species record; authority for valid names)
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press; foremost field authority on Lake Malawi sand-dwelling haplochromines)