Copadichromis borleyi "Nkhata Bay"
Nkhata Bay — n-KAH-tah BAY (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 Copadichromis borleyi account →Specific to Nkhata Bay
- 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 Copadichromis borleyi.
The Nkhata Bay population
Copadichromis borleyi is one of Lake Malawi's most celebrated open-water haplochromines — a specialist zooplankton picker that roams mid-water above rocky reefs in loose shoals, earning its popular name 'Red Empress' from the blazing orange-red flanks and cerulean-blue head of dominant males. The Nkhata Bay form originates from the waters around Nkhata Bay, a port town in Nkhata Bay District on the western Malawian shore at approximately 11°36′S, which doubles as a major ornamental-fish collection and export hub; borleyi collected near this locality regularly appear in the mixed utaka consignments shipped from this site. Like all location variants of the species, the Nkhata Bay Red Empress rewards hobbyists who source and maintain geographically pure lines, since coloration intensity, body depth, and proportions can vary subtly between collection points across the lake.
Colour reference: living Nkhata Bay fish at seriouslyfish.com →
About the species
Copadichromis borleyi is a zooplankton-feeding cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi and one of the most recognizable members of the lake's "utaka" guild — the open-water haplochromines that hover in shoals above the rocks and pick drifting copepods out of the current. Sold across the hobby as the "red fin" or "Kadango" hap, it pairs a vivid blue-faced, red- or yellow-flanked male with a flexible, suction-style feeding habit that ties it tightly to the lake's plankton. It is common, widespread, and listed as Least Concern, even as the basin it depends on comes under growing strain.
Full Copadichromis borleyi account →Sources
- Iles, T.D. (1960). A group of zooplankton feeders (Haplochromis) in Lake Nyasa. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (13)3: 257–280
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Copadichromis borleyi
- FishBase — Copadichromis borleyi
- Konings, A. (2016). Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 5th ed. Cichlid Press
- IUCN Red List — Copadichromis borleyi (Least Concern, 2018)
- Seriously Fish — Copadichromis borleyi
- Cichlid Room Companion — Copadichromis borleyi
- Chavula, G. et al. (2023). Threats to Lake Malawi biodiversity. Fisheries Research