Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net )., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Venustus
Nimbochromis venustus
25 cm
Adult size
250 L
Minimum volume
4
Minimum group
12 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Nimbochromis
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- harem
In the wild
Overview
This large haplochromine, with a giraffe-like spotted pattern, is an ambush predator: it lies motionless near rocks, in Vallisneria beds or on the bottom. Young adults have been seen half-buried in the sand, waiting for small fish that come to forage nearby.
- Scientific name
- Nimbochromis venustus (Boulenger, 1908)
- Classification
- Cichliformes › Cichlidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Endemic to Lake Malawi (Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania), widespread throughout the lake
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in fairly shallow water (15 m or less), on rocky shores as well as over sand or mud. Young fish stay near the rocks in shallow water, while adults hunt further offshore over the sand.
Behaviour
A predator, it eats small mbuna and young fish, but remains calm with species too large for it (Cyphotilapia frontosa, Dimidiochromis compressiceps, large mbuna). Solitary, and males fight: a single fish, or a harem of several females for breeding. Exclusively piscivorous in the wild, it accepts dead food: shrimp, fish; never meat.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth