Zebra Obliquidens (Astatotilapia latifasciata)

Description

A beautiful species which is “critically endangered” in the wild. Males develop a “red” colored belly. This species is best kept in small groups. With a ratio of 1 male to 2 females (at least 6 fish in the group). They are not overly aggressive and can be easily housed with many of the smaller mbuna and Auloncara from Lake Malawi. In the wild, it is primarily insectivore but the diet occasionally includes the fins and scales of other cichlids (but has not been observed in the aquarium). Supplement their diet with mosquito larvae, brine shrimp, cyclops, and or daphnia. Astatotilapiia is a subgenus of Haplochromis and A. latifasciata has been assigned to this subgenus pending further investigation by scientists.