Aulonocara chitande nkhata bay yellow head.

Q&A About Lake Malawi Cichlids

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A.stuartgranti
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Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 10:41 pm

Aulonocara chitande nkhata bay yellow head.

Post by A.stuartgranti »

It has come to my attention that the above mentioned species is a rare find in Australia.
I have managed to find German tank raised "yellow heads" that have been listed as "rare" through a good importer.
After asking the same importer about obtaining a wild collected gene of this species i was told there are none.
Does anyone have any information regarding this species and why it may be hard to obtain wild collected.
Pam Chin
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Re: Aulonocara chitande nkhata bay yellow head.

Post by Pam Chin »

Hey Stuartgranti,

Well I am not surprised with the responses you are getting. It is an issue that is common with some species. First off there are not very many people who are interested in this species. The population in Nkhata Bay may be threatened, the bay itself is not pristine water by any means.

This fish doesn't live up to its pictures. I have kept it myself and like most Chitande North types it is more silver and the yellow is is much more subtle. This Aulonocara was everywhere in the 90's here in the US, but they are mostly gone, because they can't compete with some of the more colorful, readily available Aulonocara. The die-hard Aulonocara people can only keep so many different species.

With no demand there is no reason to waste time in collecting them. There are not that many collectors on the lake, and they aren't going to waste tank space on something they can't move out right away.

Actually a german strain doesn't sound too bad, it is possible they have line bred some more color into them.

Also this is not a described species, so there is no full latin name. The accepted name would be Aulonocara sp. "chitande type north" It is found in more places then just Nkhata Bay, but also at Charo (Malawi, native), Kakusa (Malawi, native), Mala Point (Mozambique, native), Masimbwe Islet (Malawi, native), Mkanila Bay (Malawi, native), Nkhata Bay (Malawi, native).

Let me know if you have any additional questions!
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