Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow"

Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow" "Liwani"

Liwani — lee-WAH-nee (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. "East-coast Shallow" account →

Specific to Liwani

  • 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. "East-coast 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 Liwani population

Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow" "Liwani" is the Liwani population of Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow", 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 Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Liwani fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow" is an undescribed sand-dwelling cichlid recorded near Liwani on Lake Malawi's east coast, its trade name marking both its side of the lake and its association with shallow near-shore sand rather than deeper offshore habitat. Like other members of its genus, it is expected to be a sand-sifting invertivore whose males build and defend excavated sand bowers to court females. It has no formal description, no describing author, and no Red List status.

Full Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tramitichromis sp. "East-coast Shallow" "Liwani"
  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 "East-coast Shallow" form (genus Tramitichromis record)