Aulonocara saulosi Breeding Guide

Breeding the Greenface Peacock (Aulonocara saulosi): an eastern-shore Lake Malawi sand-forager and maternal mouthbrooder, with harem setup, sexing and fry care.

Overview

Aulonocara saulosi, the Greenface Peacock, is endemic to Lake Malawi, occurring on the eastern shore south of the Mozambique border near Masinje, typically at around 12 m depth. It reaches about 9.2 cm standard length, feeds on sand-dwelling invertebrates and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2018). Like all Aulonocara it is a maternal mouthbrooder.

Sexing

Aulonocara are strongly sexually dichromic. Males are far more colourful with elongated dorsal and anal fins, while females remain a drab silver or brown. The contrast makes the sexes easy to tell apart in mature fish.

Conditioning

Reflecting its diet of sand-dwelling invertebrates, condition breeding stock over a sandy bottom with a varied micropredator diet of fine prepared and small live or frozen foods.

Breeding Setup

Use the standard Aulonocara harem of one male with several females over sand with rocky shelter. Keeping multiple females spreads the male's attention and reduces harassment.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

As a maternal mouthbrooder, the female spawns and takes the eggs into her mouth; fertilisation follows the genus egg-spot pattern, with the male displaying anal-fin spots that the female attempts to collect, prompting release of milt. Detailed species-specific spawning accounts are limited, so behaviour is described at genus level.

Egg & Fry Care

The female incubates the brood orally for roughly three weeks before releasing free-swimming fry, in line with the genus. Because Aulonocara species hybridise readily, keep other peacocks out of the breeding tank.