Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tropheops sp. "Black Dorsal"

Tropheops sp. "Black Dorsal" "Luwala Reef"

Luwala Reef — loo-WAH-lah REEF (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 sp. "Black Dorsal" account →

Specific to Luwala Reef

  • 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 sp. "Black Dorsal".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in11 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.6alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth3–39 ft1–12 m
DietAlgae grazer (Aufwuchs), rasping the algal mat from rock surfaces at a steep, head-down angle characteristic of the genus
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form; genus-typical, on the order of a few dozen eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesBreeding males distinguished by a black or dark dorsal fin against a paler body; the body colour itself is not documented in detail for this form.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Luwala Reef population

Tropheops sp. "Black Dorsal" "Luwala Reef" is the Luwala Reef population of Tropheops sp. "Black Dorsal", 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 sp. "Black Dorsal", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Luwala Reef fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Tropheops sp. "Black Dorsal" is an undescribed mbuna cichlid documented from the southeastern shore of Lake Malawi, at Luwala Reef and Makanjila Rocks, with a further record at Chimwalani Reef. Its trade name identifies the trait aquarists use to recognise it — a dark or solidly black dorsal fin on breeding males, set against the paler body colour typical of the genus. It has never been given a formal scientific description, and no authority, IUCN status, or FishBase entry should be attached to it.

Full Tropheops sp. "Black Dorsal" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tropheops sp. "Black Dorsal" "Luwala Reef"
  2. Cichlid Room Companion — genus Tropheops
  3. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Fricke, Eschmeyer & Van der Laan, eds., CAS) — searched: no valid name for the undescribed "Black Dorsal" form