Labidochromis chisumulae

Labidochromis chisumulae

Labidochromis chisumulae was only officially described by Lewis in 1982. The family name Labidochromis is made up of two parts: Labis comes from ancient Greek and means tongs or tweezers and refers to the narrow mouth, chromis also comes from ancient Greek and means fish. The species name chisumulae is a reference to the location of this species: Chizumulu island.

The males can reach a total length of around 8 centimeters in the wild and the females stay slightly smaller. In the aquarium they get more and more powerful food, which means they can get a little longer. The males can grow to about 10 centimeters in the aquarium and the females do not grow larger than about 8 centimeters.

Origin

You can find Labidochromis chisumulae in Lake Malawi, they occor only around the rocky shores of Chizumulu Island. They inhabit the transition zone from sand to rocks at a depth of 3 to 20 meters.

Diet

In nature this species feeds mainly on small crustaceans, insects and insect larvae. They also peck in the aufwuchs in search of something edible. This way, they also take small amounts of algae.

The Aquarium

The small-sized Mbuna is not territorial. It is best to keep one male in the aquarium together with several females. Decorate the aquarium with (filter)sand on the bottom. Make sure there are enough rocks between which the fish can hide.

Video

Author

John de Lange

Copyright images

Michael Negrini – Pisciculture d’Estalens
Stanisław Gajaszek
Mark Thomas – Marks Fiskenarie

Last Updated on 13 November 2021 by John