Blue nyererei

Pundamilia azurea

Also known as Haplochromis azureus, Ruti Island nyererei

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–81°F (23–27°C)
pH: 7.0–8.5
Adult size: 4.7 in (12 cm)
Minimum tank: 53 gal (200 L)
Temperament: Aggressive
Social behavior: Solitary
Tankmates: Tankmates with caution
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lake Victoria, rocky islands
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

This is a small but feisty Lake Victoria cichlid. It does not shoal, so keep a single male, or a male with a female or two if you want to breed, and never house two males together, since they fight hard and it will chase its own kind. It holds around the middle and lower water near rock, and a male defends a territory, so give plenty of stone, caves, and sight breaks and choose robust tankmates with care. Feed a varied diet of quality flake and pellets with frozen mysis, brine shrimp, and some vegetable content. A tank of around 200 liters or more, well aquascaped with rock, helps spread the aggression.

In the wild

Pundamilia azurea lives at rocky island shores in the Tanzanian part of Lake Victoria, over steep beds of broken stone in the Speke Gulf. Recreate that with piles of rock forming caves and territories over a sandy floor. The lake is warm, with a neutral to alkaline pH, so hold 23 to 27 C and a pH of 7.0 to 8.5 with good filtration and stable conditions.

Good to know

Pundamilia azurea, also listed as Haplochromis azureus, belongs to the cichlid family and reaches about 12 centimeters. Males are washed in blue from head to tail, where their close relative the red nyererei burns orange-red. It is a maternal mouthbrooder of medium difficulty: the female carries the eggs and fry in her mouth and does all the parental care.

Did you know

Female nyererei choose mates by male color, and this blue form and the red one stay separate species largely because females prefer their own shade. Where pollution clouds the water and hides those colors, the two can interbreed, a rare case of species blurring back together.