Malawi Mbuna Cichlids
They also have interesting behaviours that hold your attention for a long time.
Malawi mbuna cichlids. These cichlids are some of the most aggressive and territorial of all cichlid species so they generally need to be kept alone or in large tanks. They live amongst the rocks in comparison to non mbunas like the utaka who live in open waters. Mbuna is a term used to group species of lake malawi cichlids according to their dna and certain physical properties such as their dentition.
This page contains information about the famous group of cichlid fishes called mbunas that live among the rocks along the shores of lake malawi in east africa. African cichlids from lake malawi include mbuna peacock and haplochromis species. But since the real.
The mbuna group is endemic to lake malawi. Mbuna pronounced mboo na is the common name for a large group of african cichlids from lake malawi. Mbuna cichlids general description.
It is the 9th largest lake in the world and is located between malawi mozambique and tanzania. Golden mbuna cichlid. As the name implies mbuna are the cichilds that live among piles of rocks as opposed to the utaka.
On this page we will take a look at care requirements for 12 species of lake malawi cichlids. Lake malawi cichlid species come in a wide variety of colours. Feel free to share or embed this video many fish came close to being on this list.
Their name stands for rock dweller in the native language so these fish are most at home among large rocks along the shoreline of the lake you have seen them most likely in videos where there are hundreds of them bunched in one place but contrary to this they are very territorial and very few species tend to school together. The name mbuna means rockfish in the language of the tonga people of malawi. Mbunas are a large group of cichlids known best for their lively aggressive demeanor active personality.
Big blue bob a maylandia greshakei shown above swimming in a large aquarium with a black background is one of tom s very favorite mbuna cichlids. Males display prominent colors in comparison to females with the dominant male showing the most intense color to attract a mate. The name mbuna translates to rock fish as they like to reside in and around rocks.
The name mbuna cichlids is generally used to describe any of the rock dwelling species of cichlids native to lake malawi. Sort by featured best selling alphabetically a z alphabetically z a price low to high price high to low date old to new date new to old. Malawi cichlids are highly sought after in the aquarium hobby due to their vibrant colors and interesting behavior.
Lake malawi is one of the three rift lakes of eastern africa along with lake tanganyika and lake victoria and stretches 360 miles from north to south.