Lacustricola is a genus of small African "lampeyes" — slender, surface-dwelling topminnows named for the metallic blue-green sheen across the upper eye — found across lakes and rivers of eastern and central Africa, including Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique. The genus was split out of the old catch-all Aplocheilichthys and belongs, with Africa's other lampeyes, to a lineage of egg-laying topminnows quite distinct from the livebearing poeciliids they superficially resemble. Most species stay under 3.5 in, hold near the surface in loose shoals over still or slow water, and pick small insects and other invertebrates from the surface film.
Aquarium interest in Lacustricola is modest but real: the group turns up in specialist killifish and lampeye circles under names like the Bukoba lampeye (L. bukobanus), the striped topminnow (L. katangae) and the gemstone lampeye (L. gemma), prized for the flash of colour in the eye and an easy-going nature in soft, well-planted tanks. The IUCN tally for the genus is mixed — a plurality of species are still unassessed, but three are listed Vulnerable and two Endangered, so a meaningful slice of the genus is under real pressure even though none yet carries a CARES-tracked breeding program on the atlas.