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

Colour reference: living Mala Point fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Tramitichromis brevis is a sand-sifting cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, where it works the lake's soft inshore floor for the small invertebrates buried in mud and sand. Unspectacular at a glance, it is a precision feeder: it takes mouthfuls of sediment, sorts the edible from the inert against a specialized grid of gill rakers and pharyngeal teeth, and spits the sand back out. Breeding males trade that quiet life for a brief, conspicuous one, building sand bowers to court passing females before the females carry the eggs away in their mouths. The trade still moves it under the old, wrong name 'Lethrinops variabilis.'

Full Tramitichromis brevis account →

Tramitichromis brevis "Mala Point"

The Mala Point population

About the species

Sources