Popo Point
POH-poh POYNT (approx.)
The atlas records 3 collection-point forms from Popo Point, across 2 genera.
7.8919°S 30.8110°E
Popo Point is a point on Tanzania's Lake Tanganyika shore that marks the entrance to Lyapinda Bay.
Where it is
Popo Point is on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, in its southern third (316 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Popo (Kizumbi) Rocks 0.6 mi west · Semwe Rocks 1.7 mi north-west · Namlimba Point 1.7 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.
Nearest measured station: Mpulungu (south basin) (~102 km) — Temperature 24.5 °C · pH 8.9 · Conductivity 662 µS/cm · Visibility (Secchi) 11.9 m
Surface temperature here
Across Mar–Nov, monthly means run 77 °F to 82 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1462 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.
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
Lyapinda Bay, at the point's entrance, contains Manyoni Rocks, described as a shallow reef with several interesting cichlids.
Tropheus "Wampembe," first found at Popo Point in 1991, is now referred to as the "Popo Point" variant, after a further Tropheus population, "Murago Tanzania," was found at nearby Wampembe village in 2008 (Karlsson & Karlsson, 2016).
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.