Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek North" "Makonde"

Makondemah-KOHN-deh (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. "Red Cheek North" account →

Specific to Makonde

  • 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. "Red Cheek North".

CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 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 (short algal turf cropped from wave-washed rock with thick, fleshy lips)
BreedingMaternal mouthbroodernot documented for this form
Sexual dimorphismYesTrade name implies a reddish cheek/operculum patch on territorial males, shared in name with the geographically distinct southern 'Red Cheek' populations; not formally described
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Makonde population

Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek North" "Makonde" is the Makonde population of Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek North", a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Malawi in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek North", distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Makonde fish at malawi.si

About the species

Tropheops sp. 'red cheek north' is an undescribed rock mbuna from the far northern, Tanzanian end of Lake Malawi, named as the northern counterpart to Tropheops sp. 'red cheek,' which is documented much farther south around the Likoma-Chizumulu islands and Cape Maclear. The paired trade names flag a shared reddish cheek marking on males in both forms while explicitly treating them as geographically and, by implication, taxonomically separate. Neither has been formally described.

Full Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek North" account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek North" "Makonde"
  2. Konings, A. — Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 5th ed. (Cichlid Press)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Genus record (authority for valid names; this trade name has no catalog entry)