Copadichromis

Copadichromis is a genus of colorful cichlids that are found only in Lake Malawi in Africa. They belong to the group known as “Utaka” and specialize in catching zooplankton in open water. In the aquarium hobby, they are known as relatively peaceful and active schooling fish, making them a good choice for aquarists who want to start keeping Malawi cichlids in a larger aquarium. The males in particular stand out for their beautiful, often bright blue colors, while the females have a more modest appearance.

Name and meaning

The genus Copadichromis was officially described in 1989 by scientists David H. Eccles and E. Trewavas. They did this in the book “Malawian cichlid fishes. The Classification of some Haplochromine genera”. This genus belongs to the large and well-known family of Cichlidae, or cichlids.

The name Copadichromis itself is a beautiful combination of two words from Ancient Greek:

Kopadi: This means ‘school’, as in a school of fish. This refers directly to the natural behavior of these fish: they like to swim in groups.
Chromis: This is a name that has been used for fish since the time of Aristotle. In the scientific names of fish, it is often used as a general term for cichlids and other perch-like fish.

Combined, Copadichromis could be loosely translated as ‘schooling cichlid’. A very fitting name!

Characteristics

Copadichromis species are instantly recognizable by their elegant and streamlined body shape, which is perfectly adapted to life in the open waters of Lake Malawi. They are not small fish; most species grow to an average length of between 12 and 16 centimeters in the aquarium.

The most striking feature is the large difference between males and females (this is called sexual dimorphism):

Males: The males are the showstoppers of the genus. They develop brilliant, intense colors, often with a base of bright blue, which can blend into yellow, orange, or even red on their flanks and fins, depending on the species and their mood. During mating season, these colors become even more intense to impress the females. They also often have distinct ‘egg spots’ on their anal fin.
Females: Females are much more simply colored. They usually have a silvery or gray-brown base color. This helps them to be less conspicuous and protect themselves from predators, especially when caring for their young.

Another interesting feature is their special mouth. They have a so-called ‘protruding’ mouth. When hunting, they can quickly push their mouth forward like a kind of tube. They use this to suck small animals (zooplankton) out of the water. This is a fascinating sight to see!

Origin

All species belonging to the Copadichromis genus have a very specific origin: they come exclusively from Lake Malawi in East Africa. This means that they are endemic to this lake; you will not find them anywhere else in the wild.

Lake Malawi is enormous and has different habitats (biotopes). Copadichromis species belong to the group known as ‘Utaka’. Unlike the well-known ‘Mbuna’, which live close to the rocks, the Utaka inhabit the open water.

They live and hunt in large schools, often above sandy or rocky bottoms. Here they search for zooplankton, their main food source. So you will not usually find them directly among the rocks, but more in the water column above or in the transition areas from rocks to sand. Some species live in fairly deep water.

Because Lake Malawi is so large, many species have developed their own local color variations. A species such as Copadichromis mloto, for example, is found in the southeastern part of the lake, but also further north near Nkhata Bay. This makes it a widespread genus within the lake.

Behavior

The behavior of Copadichromis is exactly what their name suggests: they are true schooling fish. In Lake Malawi, they swim in large groups, with the females in particular sometimes forming schools of more than a hundred fish. They are active swimmers that mainly stay in the middle water layers of the aquarium.

In general, Copadichromis species are considered calm and relatively peaceful, especially compared to many other Malawi cichlids. However, this changes when mating season arrives.

Behavior of the males: The males become territorial during the breeding season. They look for a nice spot on the sandy bottom and build a breeding pit there, also known as a ‘bower’. They defend this spot against other males, but they are usually not extremely aggressive. They will show off their most beautiful colors and persistently try to seduce the females to mate with them.
Behavior of the females: The females are a lot calmer and less aggressive. They stay in the background a bit more and often swim together in a group.

Due to the intrusive behavior of the male during the mating season, it is strongly recommended to keep Copadichromis in a harem. This means one male with at least three females. This way, his attention is divided and no single female becomes exhausted. In an aquarium that is too small, multiple males can be very intolerant of each other.

Species within the Copadichromis genus

The Copadichromis genus has a number of described and undescribed species. Below is a list of species that we have not yet included in the database. Below that are the species with photos that we have already added: