Chitande Aulonocara

About

The Chitande Aulonocara (Aulonocara ethelwynnae) is one of the less commonly encountered members of its genus in the hobby, which is a shame because mature males carry a genuinely distinctive look. The body takes on a brown-yellow base color crossed by seven dark vertical bars beneath the dorsal fin, and the fins themselves pick up violet-blue tones, black lappets, and orange accents. When a male moves into spawning condition, blue pigmentation intensifies between those dark bars and spreads across the lower head, making the whole fish look transformed. In the wild, this species is found only around Chitende Island in Lake Malawi, living in transitional zones where scattered rocks give way to open sand. An important detail for setting up a suitable aquarium. Like other Aulonocara, it hunts by hovering low and detecting invertebrates hiding beneath the substrate. Keep a deep sand bed and include some flat rocks to support that natural behavior and provide potential spawning sites. Males can be pushy toward anything wearing a similar color pattern, so choose tankmates carefully. Think differently patterned Copadichromis or Placidochromis rather than other Aulonocara, which risk hybridizing. A single male kept with four to six females works well in most tanks. This species is a maternal mouthbrooder, and females carry eggs for roughly four weeks before releasing free-swimming fry.