Bony fish · Perciformes · Cichlidae

Zebra Mbuna

Maylandia zebra

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

A cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, blue with dark vertical bars, living among the rocks of the shoreline and rasping the algal mat with its specialised teeth. It belongs to the mbuna, the rock-dwelling cichlids of the lake, and is one of the reference species in the study of evolution.

Size

8 cm – 13 cm

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanFreshwaterHerbivore Diurnal Fish Ocean Freshwater

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Fun facts

GeneralThe female broods the eggs in her mouth for some three weeks.
The cichlids of Lake Malawi are one of the most spectacular examples of adaptive radiation: several hundred species have arisen from a handful of ancestors in under a million years.
The mbuna hardly ever cross the sandy stretches between rocky headlands, which isolates the populations of each reef and speeds up the emergence of new species.
It is a maternal mouthbrooder: the female holds the eggs in her mouth for about three weeks and releases fry that are already independent.
The colour of the males changes from one part of the lake to another: in some places their heads are dark and in others blue, over a bright blue body with up to eight blackish bars.
The males carry spots on the anal fin that mimic eggs, a lure that forms part of the courtship.

Life cycle & biology

Habitat & environment: The rocky inshore zone of Lake Malawi
Gestation / incubation: The female broods the eggs in her mouth for about three weeks

Sources consulted: FishBase (Froese & Pauly, eds.); Lista Roja de la UICN (evaluación de 2018); Seriously Fish