Jalo Reef Afra – Cynotilapia afra

The Jalo Reef Afra (Cynotilapia afra) is collected from the the Jalo Reef region of Lake Malawi, but is not a common offering in the aquarium trade. The dominant adult male is primarily blue, with several black vertical bars. Their dorsal fin is solid yellow but the yellow does not extend onto the body as it does on variants from other regions. Females are pale blue and may have dark bars depending on mood.

Malawian and Victorian cichlids are similar in care and temperament, leading to fish from these two lakes being grouped together in the hobby. Several hundreds species of cichlid are found in Lake Malawi, along with many regional variations, but Lake Victoria has far fewer due to the introduction of invasive predators. Most cichlids in both lakes are rock-dwellers. They seldom stray far from the rocky bottoms and sides of the lake and will quickly dart into the rocks to hide. As with all cichlids, they are very territorial and will not tolerate other cichlids around \