Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tramitichromis sp. "Maculae"

Tramitichromis sp. "Maculae" "Nkolongwe"

Nkolongwe — n-koh-LOHN-gweh (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. "Maculae" account →

Specific to Nkolongwe

  • 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. "Maculae".

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 dimorphismYesTrade name implies a spotted or blotched colour element; exact pattern and any sex difference not documented in a formal published description. Females presumed plainer and silvery, per genus pattern.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Nkolongwe population

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

Colour reference: living Nkolongwe fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Tramitichromis sp. "Maculae" is an undescribed sand-dwelling cichlid recorded at Nkolongwe on the Mozambican shore of Lake Malawi, its Latin trade name — from macula, "spot" — pointing to a spotted element in its colour pattern that field workers use to recognise it. Like the rest of its genus, it is expected to be a sand-sifting invertivore whose males 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. "Maculae" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tramitichromis sp. "Maculae" "Nkolongwe"
  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 "Maculae" form (genus Tramitichromis record)