'' Copadichromis azureus'', one of the utaka of Lake Malawi in Africa Utaka is a term used for multiple open water-dwelling

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

species that are found in

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

, the most diverse source of cichlids in the world of aquaria.FAO Fishery Country Profile – THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI
/ref> Among others, they comprise all the members of the genera ''

Copadichromis ''Copadichromis'' is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in Eastern Africa. ''Copadichromis'' are part of a group known as utaka and are popular with aquarists, as this genus is relatively peaceful in captivity compared to t ...

'' and '' Mchenga''. "Utaka" apparently occupy the opposite of the niches used by the

mbuna Mbuna (pronounced Mmm-boo-nah ) is the common name for a large group of African cichlids from Lake Malawi, and are members of the haplochromine tribe within the family Cichlidae. The name ''mbuna'' means "rockfish" in the language of the Tonga pe ...

, the more common type of Malawi cichlid that dwells among rocks along the lake's fringes and bottom. Unlike mbuna, which are generally colorful from birth, utaka tend to be very neutral in color -- mostly greys -- until they reach adulthood, because their free-swimming nature leaves them more vulnerable to predation. They are highly sexually dimorphic: the females of this informal group tend to remain bland in coloration, while the males often become spectacularly colorful, leading to common names like " peacock cichlid."

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