Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tropheops biriwira

Tropheops biriwira "Mumbo Island"

Mumbo Island — MOOM-boh EYE-land (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 Tropheops biriwira account →

Specific to Mumbo Island

  • 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 Tropheops biriwira.

IUCNNEAR THREATENED · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.7 in6.9 cm standard length
Temperature75–84 °F24–29 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Depth131 ft40 m
DietGrazes filamentous aufwuchs from rock
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderGenus-typical: a modest brood of a few dozen large eggs (undocumented for this species)
Sexual dimorphismYesTerritorial males larger with olive-green to light-blue ground color and a green 'greenback' dorsal fin; females and subordinates stay in muted brown juvenile dress
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mumbo Island population

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

Colour reference: living Mumbo Island fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Tropheops biriwira is a small, slender mbuna cichlid endemic to the rocky southern shores of Lake Malawi, where it is known from just two pinpoints of coast: Mumbo and Otter islands. Described only in 2016, it had circulated in the hobby for decades under the trade name 'elongatus greenback,' a nod to the olive-green dorsal fin a territorial male flushes when he holds a patch of reef. It is one of those rift-lake fish that is genuinely scarce in the wild, a fact that quietly shapes both its conservation story and how rarely you actually see it in a tank.

Full Tropheops biriwira account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tropheops biriwira "Mumbo Island"
  2. Li, S., Konings, A.F. & Stauffer, J.R. (2016). A revision of the Pseudotropheus elongatus species group (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with description of a new genus and seven new species. Zootaxa 4168(2):353-381 (original description)
  3. FishBase — Tropheops biriwira (species summary, morphometrics, IUCN line)
  4. GBIF — Tropheops biriwira Li, Konings & Stauffer, 2016 (accepted taxon, occurrences)
  5. Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer) — Tropheops biriwira species record
  6. iNaturalist — Tropheops biriwira taxon page (range, IUCN status)