Mbuna is the common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 for a large group of African cichlids from Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...

. The name mbuna means "rockfish" in the language of the Tonga people of Malawi. As the name implies, mbuna are the cichilds that live among piles of rocks, as opposed to the utaka

Utaka

right|thumb|Red empress cichlid, which lives in the utaka niche of lake Malawi, AfricaUtaka is the term used for open water-dwelling cichlids found in Lake Malawi, the most diverse source of cichlids in the world of amateur aquaria...

, cichlids living in the open water like many other haplochromine

Haplochromine

The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus plus a number of closely related genera such as Aulonocara, Astatotilapia, and Chilotilapia. They are endemic to eastern and southern Africa...

s.

Mbuna in aquaria

These Cichlids are some of the most colorful freshwater

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 fish for the home aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

. Mbuna are very aggressive and territorial fish, they are not suitable for beginner fishkeepers. A suitable aquarium setting includes many rocks, caves and hiding places; plants may be uprooted so they are best avoided but a small number will work well in the aquarium. These include Java fern, which may become the object of mbuna aggression but will not be eaten due to an undesirable taste.

Sand or gravel were the ideal substrate

Substrate (aquarium)

The substrate of an aquarium refers to the material used on the tank bottom. It can affect water chemistry, filtration, and the well-being of the aquarium's inhabitants, and is also an important part of the aquarium's aesthetic appeal...

. The hobbyist will want to mix in some sort of so-called "tufert rock" as a pH buffer. However, Limestone, Holey rock, crushed coral and especially mixed bags of subsarate do. Generally, tanks of no less than 120 centimetres (3.9 ft) in length is required for mature Mbuna; 110 litres (232.5 US pt) tanks will work beautifully for juvenile fish but will need to be upgraded as they mature, grow and become more aggressive and territorial (this will occur in just a matter of weeks or months).

These Cichlids are usually kept in well filtered, heavily stocked mbuna-specific aquariums. Over-crowding helps spread out the aggression and no particular individual gets bullied to death. They are maternal mouthbrooder

Mouthbrooder

Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a variety of different animals, most notably Darwin's...

s and breed readily in good conditions. Mbuna are mostly omnivores, and generally benefit from a varied diet.

Notable mbuna cichilds

Many mbuna cichlids are regularly stocked and sold by pet shops. Some of the most common ones are the bumblebee cichlid, auratus cichlid, electric yellow cichlid

Electric yellow cichlid

thumb|right|200px|Mature Male Electric Yellow cichlidThe Electric Yellow Cichlid is a naturally occurring variant of Labidochromis caeruleus. This variant is also known as the lemon yellow lab, electric yellow or yellow prince. It is endemic to the central western coastal region of Nkhata Bay in...

, red zebra cichlid, Maylandia callainos

Maylandia callainos

Maylandia callainos is a species of fish in the Cichlidae family. The correct name of its genus is disputed, with some using Maylandia and others Metriaclima.It is endemic to Malawi. Its natural habitat is freshwater lakes...

 and Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos

Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos

Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos is a species of fish in the Cichlidae family. It is endemic to Malawi. Its natural habitat is freshwater lakes. Since it is an endemic species, there is not very much information available, except that posted below by owners...

(Blue Johanni) cichlid

Cichlid

Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...

. Cichlids belonging to any of the genera listed below are usually considered mbuna.

• Cyathochromis Trewavas 1935
• Cynotilapia
  Cynotilapia
  Cynotilapia is a genus of fishes from the family Cichlidae. The genus was described by the British ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan in 1922. All fishes in these genus form part of the mbuna flock, the rock-dwelling fishes of Lake Malawi, in the rift valley of East Africa...
  
  Regan
  C. Tate Regan
  Charles Tate Regan was a British ichthyologist, working mainly around the beginning of the 20th century. He did extensive work on fish classification schemes....
  
   1922
• Genyochromis Trewavas 1935
• Gephyrochromis
  Gephyrochromis
  Gephyrochromis is a small genus of cichlid fish. The genus contains two species; Gephyrochromis lawsii and Gephyrochromis moorii, both of which are endemic to Lake Malawi in east Africa.-References:...
  
  Boulenger
  George Albert Boulenger
  George Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
  
   1901
• Iodotropheus
  Iodotropheus
  Iodotropheus is a small genus of cichlid fish endemic to Lake Malawi in east Africa. It currently includes three species. The lavender mbuna, Iodotropheus sprengerae, also known as the rusty cichlid, is the most commonly encountered member of the genus in the aquarium trade.-Species:** Iodotropheus...
  
  Oliver & Loiselle 1972
• Labeotropheus
  Labeotropheus
  Labeotropheus is a small genus of cichlid fish endemic to Lake Malawi in eastern Africa. It includes at least two species, each with a number of subspecies or races. Further taxonomic work is required to determine how many species exist. These cichlids are popular ornamental fish and are ideally...
  
  Ahl
  Ernst Ahl
  Christoph Gustav Ernst Ahl was a German zoologist.He was the director of the department of ichthyology and herpetology in the Museum für Naturkunde....
  
   1926
• Labidochromis
  Labidochromis
  Labidochromis is a genus of cichlid fishes that are endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. The genus includes 18 formally described species, and several yet undescribed species. It includes a number of species commonly kept in cichlid aquariums such as L. caeruleus...
  
  Trewavas 1935
• Maylandia
  Maylandia
  Maylandia or Metriaclima is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. They belong to the mbuna haplochromines....
  
  Meyer & Foerster 1984. (syn. Metriaclima Stauffer, Bowers, Kellogg, & McKaye 1997 )
• Melanochromis
  Melanochromis
  Melanochromis is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in Eastern Africa. It was established by Ethylwynn Trewavas in 1935. Ecologically, they belong to the rock-dwelling mbuna cichlids of Lake Malawi....
  
  Trewavas
  Ethylwynn Trewavas
  Dr. Ethelwynn Trewavas was an ichthyologist at the British Museum of Natural History. She was known for her work on the families Cichlidae and Sciaenidae...
  
   1935
• Petrotilapia
  Petrotilapia
  Petrotilapia is a genus of fish in the Cichlidae family.It contains the following species:* Petrotilapia chrysos* Petrotilapia genalutea* Petrotilapia nigra* Petrotilapia tridentiger...
  
  Trewavas 1935
• Pseudotropheus
  Pseudotropheus
  Pseudotropheus is a genus of rock dwelling cichlids found in Lake Malawi. Like some other large cichlid genera, such as Cichlasoma, a number of related fishes have been recently re-assigned to different genera such as Tropheops or Maylandia...
  
  Regan
  C. Tate Regan
  Charles Tate Regan was a British ichthyologist, working mainly around the beginning of the 20th century. He did extensive work on fish classification schemes....
  
   1922

The list below includes groups of non-mbuna mouthbrooding cichilds from Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...

.

• Peacock cichilds
• Haplochromine
  Haplochromine
  The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus plus a number of closely related genera such as Aulonocara, Astatotilapia, and Chilotilapia. They are endemic to eastern and southern Africa...
  
  s