''Nimbochromis livingstonii'', Livingston's cichlid or (locally) ''kalingono'', is a freshwater mouthbrooding cichlid native to

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 fr ...

, an

African Rift Lake The Rift Valley lakes are a series of lakes in the East African Rift valley that runs through eastern Africa from Ethiopia in the north to Malawi in the south, and includes the African Great Lakes in the south. These include some of the world's ...

. It is also found in the upper

Shire River The Shire is the largest river in Malawi. It is the only outlet of Lake Malawi and flows into the Zambezi River in Mozambique. Its length is . The upper Shire River issues from Lake Malawi and runs approximately before it enters shallow Lake Malo ...

and

Lake Malombe Lake Malombe is a lake in southern part of Malawi, on the Shire River, in the Southern Region. It is located at around , about south of much larger Lake Malawi. It has an area of about . In recent years the number of fishermen on the lake rose s ...

. They are found in inshore areas of the lake over sandy substrates.

Morphology

A laterally compressed fish with a large mouth. Maximum reported length of male fish in the wild is TL while females reach TL. Colouration variable but typically mottled brown and white. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

may also show blue coloration while maintaining an orange to red band and sometimes a white line. Adult males frequently "color up" in response to changing conditions and rapidly change from spotted

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

to brilliant blues and greens and may even exhibit a pale golden tone. Breeding males turn a dark blue which almost completely obscures their blotched pattern. The anal fin is usually orange to red. Females are similar, but usually lack the yellow "egg spot" markings on the anal fin. Juveniles display a brown and white spotted pattern. The distinctive colouration of this species is said to mimic that of a dead fish, and may be part of a hunting strategy.

Diet and feeding behaviour

Wild fish feed primarily on small fish, in particular '' Lethrinops'' spp. Aquarium specimens have been observed to lie on the substrate as if dead, waiting for small fish to come close in search of a meal. When a suitable target comes into range, the fish quickly lunges at the prey and usually swallows it whole. It is this unique hunting method that gives the fish its local name, ''kalingono'', which means "sleeper".

Reproduction

Males are

polygamous Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is marrie ...

and will mate with multiple females. This species is a

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 ...

with the female incubating up to 100 eggs until they hatch and the fry become free swimming, much like the ''

Astatotilapia burtoni ''Astatotilapia burtoni'' is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is found in Lake Tanganyika and its surrounding waterways, including parts of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are rivers, intermittent r ...

'' which is of the same tribe.

Economic importance

''Nimbochromis livingstonii'' is used locally as a

food fish Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...

and is also collected and traded as an aquarium fish.

Name

The identity of the person honoured in the specific name is not given in Günther's

description Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narra ...

but it is thought likely to be the Scottish

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Dr.

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

(1813-1873) who was the first known European to discover Lake Malawi in 1856, collecting the first specimens of fishes from the Lake.

References