Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tramitichromis sp. "False Lituris"

Tramitichromis sp. "False Lituris" "South East Arm"

South East Arm — SOWTH EEST ARM (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. "False Lituris" account →

Specific to South East Arm

  • 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. "False Lituris".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in13 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–66 ft3–20 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 South East Arm population

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

Colour reference: living South East Arm fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Tramitichromis sp. "False Lituris" is an undescribed sand-dwelling cichlid recorded in the South East Arm of Lake Malawi, its trade name a direct field note: the fish resembles the described species Tramitichromis lituris closely enough to invite confusion, but is regarded by field workers as a distinct, separate population rather than lituris itself. Like its genus-mates it is a sand-sifting invertivore whose males are expected to build and defend excavated sand bowers as spawning sites. It has no formal description, no describing author, and no Red List status.

Full Tramitichromis sp. "False Lituris" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tramitichromis sp. "False Lituris" "South East Arm"
  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 "False Lituris" form (genus Tramitichromis record)