Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tramitichromis brevis

Tramitichromis brevis "Nkhata Bay"

Nkhata Bay — n-KAH-tah 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 Tramitichromis brevis account →

Specific to Nkhata 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 Tramitichromis brevis.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6.4 in16.3 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Depth49 ft15 m
DietSand-sifting invertivore
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderA few dozen eggs (genus-typical; not documented for this species)
Sexual dimorphismYesDominant males develop brighter, high-contrast breeding coloration; females and subordinate males stay a plainer silvery-tan
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkhata Bay population

Tramitichromis brevis "Nkhata Bay" is the Nkhata Bay population of Tramitichromis brevis, a geographic colour form from the Malawi 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 Nkhata Bay 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 →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tramitichromis brevis "Nkhata Bay"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Tramitichromis brevis (Boulenger 1908)
  3. FishBase — Tramitichromis brevis summary
  4. FishBase — Tramitichromis brevis species summary (ID 2252)
  5. Chavula et al. 2023, Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa basin: Status, challenges, and research needs (J. Great Lakes Res. 49(6):102241)
  6. Chavula et al. 2023 — basin review (ResearchGate copy)