Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Labidochromis joanjohnsonae

Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae "Mbako Bay"

Mbako Bay — m-BAH-koh 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 Labidochromis joanjohnsonae account →

Specific to Mbako 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 Labidochromis joanjohnsonae.

IUCNNEAR THREATENED · 2018
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.7–8.8alkaline
Hardness (GH)slightly hardup to 179 ppm
Depth3–23 ft1–7 m
DietGrazes aufwuchs / omnivore
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~20–30 fry
Sexual dimorphismYesStrong: dominant males iridescent sky-blue with barred fins and egg-spots; females and juveniles pearly grey-green with wavy orange-brown stripes
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mbako Bay population

Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae "Mbako Bay" is the Mbako Bay population of Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae, a geographic colour form from the Malawi coast of Lake Malawi in the central part of the lake. It is the same species as Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Mbako Bay fish at malawi.si →

About the species

Labidochromis joanjohnsonae — better known today as Labidochromis joanjohnsonae, the "Pearl of Likoma" — is a small rock-dwelling mbuna found in the very shallow margins of a single island in Lake Malawi. It is one of the most genus-shuffled cichlids in the lake, having been parked in Labidochromis, Melanochromis and Pseudotropheus across fifty years of description and re-description. Males turn an electric sky-blue with barred fins while females and juveniles keep soft orange-brown stripes, and the whole species' natural world is a strip of broken rock barely deeper than a swimming pool.

Full Labidochromis joanjohnsonae account →

Sources

  1. malawi.si — Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae "Mbako Bay"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Labidochromis joanjohnsonae (Johnson 1974)
  3. FishBase — Labidochromis joanjohnsonae (Pearl of Likoma)
  4. GBIF — Labidochromis joanjohnsonae / Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae taxonomy
  5. FishBase — Territory / distribution list for Labidochromis joanjohnsonae
  6. GBIF (German-language profile) — meristics and male/female coloration of Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae
  7. IUCN Red List — Pseudotropheus joanjohnsonae "Mbako Bay"