Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Tanganyika · Zambia

Nkamba Bay

n-KAHM-bah BAY (approx.)

The atlas records 3 collection-point forms from Nkamba Bay, across 3 genera.

8.5761°S 30.5554°E

Nkamba Bay is a bay on Zambia's Lake Tanganyika shore, about 2 km west-north-west of Chilanga.

Where it is

Nkamba Bay is at the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, 363 mi south of the lake's northern tip.

Nearest collection points: Chilanga 1.5 mi south-east · Chisanse 2.1 mi north-east · Cape Nundo 4.7 mi north

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) (~64 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 76 °F to 82 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1546 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

75°78°81°84°Jan: too few clear satellite days (1)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (3)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (6)–MApr: 82 °F mean (81 °F–83 °F), 23 clear satellite daysAMay: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 128 clear satellite daysMJun: 78 °F mean (76 °F–80 °F), 309 clear satellite daysJJul: 76 °F mean (75 °F–77 °F), 369 clear satellite daysJAug: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 363 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (77 °F–80 °F), 235 clear satellite daysSOct: 80 °F mean (79 °F–82 °F), 89 clear satellite daysONov: 82 °F mean (81 °F–83 °F), 17 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (3)–D
Surface temperature by month near Nkamba 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.

Sources
  1. tanganyika.si — Nkamba Bay, Lake Tanganyika, Zambia: location page and photo gallery (captions by Ndole Bay Lodge)

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.

Altolamprologus (1)

Julidochromis (1)

Lepidiolamprologus (1)

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