Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Tanganyika · Tanzania

Maswa Point

MAH-swah POYNT (approx.)

The atlas records 2 collection-point forms from Maswa Point, across 2 genera.

5.3947°S 29.7603°E

Maswa Point is a rocky point on Lake Tanganyika's Tanzanian shore, between the Lugufu and Msehezi Rivers.

Where it is

Maswa Point is on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, in its central third (143 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Kibwe Bay 0.4 mi north-east · Mkuyu Point 5.7 mi south · Mkuyu 6.8 mi south

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) (~59 km) — Temperature 25.7 °C · pH 8.9 · Conductivity 654 µS/cm · Visibility (Secchi) 12.8 m

This site

Habitatrockycraggy rocky ledges between Kirando and Lubengela villages

Surface temperature here

Across May–Oct, monthly means run 78 °F to 80 °F — coolest in Aug. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (844 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

76°78°80°82°Jan: too few clear satellite days (3)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (4)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (3)–MApr: too few clear satellite days (3)–AMay: 80 °F mean (79 °F–81 °F), 44 clear satellite daysMJun: 79 °F mean (78 °F–80 °F), 158 clear satellite daysJJul: 78 °F mean (77 °F–79 °F), 255 clear satellite daysJAug: 78 °F mean (77 °F–79 °F), 215 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (76 °F–79 °F), 113 clear satellite daysSOct: 79 °F mean (78 °F–80 °F), 42 clear satellite daysONov: too few clear satellite days (4)–NDec: too few clear satellite days (0)–D
Surface temperature by month near Maswa 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

Site captions describe craggy ledges between the villages of Kirando and Lubengela, with whitish rocks adjacent to Kirando; the bay containing Lubengela was known to Moore as Maswa. Aloe plants grow in crevices on a barren vertical rock wall, with a cassava field on the cliffs above.

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

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.

Chalinochromis (1)

Neolamprologus (1)

← All collection points