Tropheops sp. "Elongatus Mbako" "Hai Reef"
Tropheops sp. "Elongatus Mbako" (Cobwe, Hai Reef, Likoma Island, Maingano Island, Undu Reef)
Hai Reef — HAH-ee 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. "Elongatus Mbako" account →Specific to Hai 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. "Elongatus Mbako".
The Hai Reef population
Tropheops sp. "Elongatus Mbako" "Hai Reef" is the Hai Reef population of Tropheops sp. "Elongatus Mbako", a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Tropheops sp. "Elongatus Mbako", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Hai Reef fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Tropheops sp. "Elongatus Mbako" is an undescribed, slender-bodied mbuna recorded around Likoma Island and neighbouring sites in the north-central waters of Lake Malawi, straddling Malawian and Tanzanian shorelines. It belongs to the "elongatus" body-shape grade — a slimmer, more crevice-adapted build than the typical deep-bodied Tropheops — a form recognised in several genera across the lake rather than a single lineage. The trade name pairs that body shape with the locality "Mbako." It has no describing author, FishBase record, or IUCN status.
Full Tropheops sp. "Elongatus Mbako" account →