Tropheops sp. "Lilac" "Mkondiwa Reef"
Mkondiwa Reef — m-kohn-DEE-wah 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. "Lilac" account →Specific to Mkondiwa 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. "Lilac".
The Mkondiwa Reef population
Tropheops sp. "Lilac" "Mkondiwa Reef" is the Mkondiwa Reef population of Tropheops sp. "Lilac", 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. "Lilac", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Mkondiwa Reef fish at malawi.si →
About the species
Tropheops sp. "Lilac" is an undescribed mbuna from the islands and rocky points around Cape Maclear, in the southern part of Lake Malawi National Park — a small area famous among cichlid biologists for holding an unusually large number of distinct Tropheops colour forms living side by side on adjoining stretches of rock. This form takes its trade name from the lilac, lavender-toned body colour of breeding males. It has never received a formal scientific description, in keeping with the great majority of the Cape Maclear Tropheops forms.
Full Tropheops sp. "Lilac" account →