Metriaclima mbenji
by Larry Johnson
From the Monthly Bulletin of the Hamilton Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
Most people know this fish as the "Red Top Cobalt Zebra" or the "Mbenji
Zebra". It is a beautifully coloured mbuna (rock dwelling fish) from the Mbenji
Islands in Lake Malawi. Coloured males are an overall light cobalt blue with red dorsal,
caudal and pectoral fins.
Females tend to show more brownish tones with some hints of blue. The female also
retains some red in the above mentioned fins but it is not as intense as in males. At
Mbenji Island there is an "O.B. "(Orange blotched) form of female as well and
these are particularly striking. Mature fish can easily be sexually distinguished by their
colouration.
Another similar species from Makokola Reef named Metriaclima greshakei is
found in the southeast arm of the lake. These two can be distinguished from each other by
the amount of red in the fins. The Makokola type is a bit more intense red but this colour
only extends to the halfway point on the caudal and is not present in the pectorals.
And speaking of pectorals, this fish really does have them! (Long, flowing and usually
intact). Most bites from other fish are in the caudal area and it was really hard to get a
good picture of them in the wild with a good set of fins, even though they were found
everywhere around the islands.
Keeping this fish was no problem as long as the tank was of reasonable size, (50
gallons or more). Other species of the same attitude were placed with these fish, like Cynotilapia
afra "lion's cove" and Ps. polit. The fish "grew out" together
and it was not long after the first male coloured up that females were observed holding
eggs in their mouth.
Twenty-one days post-spawn the females were removed from the aquarium into a 2½ gallon
bucket and the fully formed fry were released from their mouth. The fry went into a 2½
gallon aquarium filtered with a small "Billy" sponge filter. Fry growth was good
and the group soon outgrew this tank and went into a 25 gallon tank.
Initial feeding was baby brine shrimp, and care was taken not to overfeed because they
WILL overeat until they burst! When they became a bit larger they greedily took Tetra Mini
Bites and growth became a little faster; of course they still got some leftover shrimp,
even at this larger size.
Within 7 months the males are starting to colour up and as a larger group in an even
larger tank, where they are housed now, are starting to look impressive.
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