''Maylandia lombardoi'', is a long

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

fish from the family

Cichlidae Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted thi ...

. This species is popular in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

hobby where it is sold under a variety of common names including: lombardoi mbuna, kenyi mbuna or kennyi mbuna or kenyi cichlid. This species is sometimes seen in the genus ''Metriaclima'' owing to a dispute in which a minority of cichlid researchers do not consider ''Maylandia'' valid (see ''

Maylandia ''Maylandia'' or ''Metriaclima'' is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemism, endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. They belong to the mbuna (rock-dwelling) haplochromines. All species in this genus are relatively small fishes, less than in ...

'' for discussion. The specific name honours the exotic fish dealer John Lombardo.

Distribution and habitat

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the rocky shores of Mbenji Island,

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fre ...

east Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. The species is highly

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, females and juvenile males are pale white-blue with several blue-black vertical bands extending into the dorsal fin. Adult males turn bright yellow with faint brown bars crossing the body; fins are plain yellow with egg spots on the anal fin.

In the aquarium

Kenyi cichlids are sold for the aquarium hobby.

Reproduction

Like most

mbuna Mbuna (pronounced Mmm-boo - nah ) is the common name for a large group of African cichlids from Lake Malawi, and are members of the haplochromine family. The name ''mbuna'' means "rockfish" in the language of the Tonga people of Malawi.Loiselle ...

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

s, this species is a maternal

mouthbrooder Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

. When mouthbrooding, females may defend a small territory and assume the colouration of males.

Images of Kenyi cichlids

File:KenyiCichlid.JPG, A male ''M. lombardoi'' in an aquarium. File:Metriaclima lombardoi Male.jpg, ''M. lombardoi'' male. File:Cichlid-image-rtisbute-steven-viemeister-3-Maylandia-lombardoi-male.jpg, A female ''M. lombardoi'' in an aquarium. File:Metriaclima lombardoi F.jpg, A male ''M. lombardoi'' with faint stripes. File:Female Juvenile .jpg, Juvenile male M. Lombardoi with faint stripes. File:Male M.Lombardoi in an aquarium.jpg, A male kenyi cichlid (M.Lombardoi) in an aquarium

References

Dick Mills Dick Mills (born 1936) is a British sound engineer, specialising in electronic music, electronic sound effects which he produced at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Mills was one of the original staff at the Radiophonic Workshop, joining in 1958 ...

, Aquarium Fish, Dorling Kindersly Books, 2000 * lombardoi Fish of Africa Fish described in 1977 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Cichlidae-stub

Distribution and habitat

In the aquarium

Reproduction

Images of Kenyi cichlids

See also

References