Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Tanganyika · Tanzania

Mabilibili Bay

mah-bee-lee-BEE-lee BAY (approx.)

The atlas records 2 collection-point forms from Mabilibili Bay, across 2 genera.

6.4483°S 29.9106°E

Mabilibili Bay is a bay on Tanzania's Lake Tanganyika shore, about 1 km north-west of Lyamembe.

Where it is

Mabilibili Bay is on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, in its central third (216 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Lyamembe 0.9 mi south-east · Sibwesa 2.7 mi east · Makola 3.9 mi south-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: Kigoma (central, east shore) (~177 km) — Temperature 25.7 °C · pH 8.9 · Conductivity 654 µS/cm · Visibility (Secchi) 12.8 m

This site

Habitatrockyrocky outcrop on the bay's southern side

Surface temperature here

Across May–Oct, monthly means run 77 °F to 80 °F — coolest in Aug. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1058 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

76°78°80°Jan: too few clear satellite days (3)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (2)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (3)–MApr: too few clear satellite days (9)–AMay: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 66 clear satellite daysMJun: 79 °F mean (78 °F–80 °F), 218 clear satellite daysJJul: 78 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 294 clear satellite daysJAug: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 264 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (76 °F–79 °F), 144 clear satellite daysSOct: 78 °F mean (76 °F–80 °F), 48 clear satellite daysONov: too few clear satellite days (6)–NDec: too few clear satellite days (1)–D
Surface temperature by month near Mabilibili Bay — 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 rocky outcrop lies on the bay's southern side, where a cement beacon marks the southern boundary of Mahale Mountains National Park; fishing is prohibited inside the park.

Sources
  1. tanganyika.si — Mabilibili Bay, 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.

Neolamprologus (1)

Tropheus (1)

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