Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tramitichromis sp. "Chembe Shallow"

Tramitichromis sp. "Chembe Shallow" "Chembe Beach"

Chembe Beach — CHEHM-beh BEECH (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 sp. "Chembe Shallow" account →

Specific to Chembe Beach

  • 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 sp. "Chembe Shallow".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth3–26 ft1–8 m
DietSand-sifting invertivore; genus-typical short, robust lower gill rakers sieve heavier sand from lighter invertebrate/algal food
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder (presumed, genus-typical); males build sand bowers as courtship/spawning sitesnot documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismYesNot documented for this form; genus-typical expectation of more strongly coloured, bower-associated breeding males vs. plainer, silvery females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Chembe Beach population

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

Colour reference: living Chembe Beach fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Tramitichromis sp. "Chembe Shallow" is an undescribed sand-dwelling cichlid recorded right off Chembe Beach at Cape Maclear in southern Lake Malawi, its trade name marking it as a shallow-water population distinct from other Tramitichromis forms found in the same general area. Like its genus-mates it is expected to be a sand-sifting invertivore whose males build and defend excavated sand bowers to attract females. It has no formal description, no describing author, and no Red List status.

Full Tramitichromis sp. "Chembe Shallow" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tramitichromis sp. "Chembe Shallow" "Chembe Beach"
  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 "Chembe Shallow" form (genus Tramitichromis record)