Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Tanganyika · Tanzania

Kolwe Point

KOH-lweh POYNT (approx.)

Also traded as “Kolwe Point (Caudal Stripe)”

The atlas records 6 collection-point forms from Kolwe Point, across 4 genera.

7.1164°S 30.4969°E

Kolwe Point is a point on Cape Mpimbwe, on Lake Tanganyika's Tanzanian shore, under 1 km south-west of Kolwe Bay.

Where it is

Kolwe Point is on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, in its southern third (262 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Kemp 0.6 mi north-east · Silaf Rocks 0.7 mi north-east · Msalaba 0.9 mi east

Shore, third and distances are measured from the coordinates above against the lake’s mapped outline.

The water

Lake-wide measured chemistry of Lake Tanganyika — collection points share their lake's water; site-specific figures are shown only where the literature records them.

Temperature77–80.6 °F25–27 °C
pH8.6–9.2alkaline
Hardnesshard · 600–690 µS/cm

Nearest measured station: Mpulungu (south basin) (~195 km) — Temperature 24.5 °C · pH 8.9 · Conductivity 662 µS/cm · Visibility (Secchi) 11.9 m

Surface temperature here

Across Apr–Nov, monthly means run 77 °F to 81 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1260 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

75°78°81°Jan: too few clear satellite days (3)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (4)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (7)–MApr: 81 °F mean (80 °F–82 °F), 15 clear satellite daysAMay: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 81 clear satellite daysMJun: 78 °F mean (77 °F–80 °F), 237 clear satellite daysJJul: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 317 clear satellite daysJAug: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 304 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (77 °F–79 °F), 204 clear satellite daysSOct: 79 °F mean (78 °F–80 °F), 70 clear satellite daysONov: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 16 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (2)–D
Surface temperature by month near Kolwe Point — dot = mean, bar = typical range (10th–90th percentile), “–” = too cloudy to measure.

Temperature: ESA Climate Change Initiative, Lakes_cci v3.0 (Asfour et al. 2026; doi:10.5285/a56dba09df8a42ec9fba8b8c7a5e1f69). Chemistry on this page remains the lake's own.

The site

A form of Tropheus called "Caudal Stripe" was found and photographed at the site on 2 June 2007.

Sources
  1. tanganyika.si — Kolwe Point, Cape Mpimbwe, Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania: location page and photo gallery (captions by African Diving Ltd)

Each entry below is the population of that species recorded here — the form aquarists keep and breed as a distinct, provenance-labelled line. Crossing forms from different collection points is considered hybridisation in the hobby.

Lobochilotes (1)

Neolamprologus (3)

Ophthalmotilapia (1)

Tropheus (1)

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