Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Tanganyika · Zambia

Sumbu Island

SOOM-boo EYE-land (approx.)

The atlas records 2 collection-point forms from Sumbu Island, across 2 genera.

8.5086°S 30.4833°E

Sumbu Island is an island in Lake Tanganyika's Zambian waters, about 2 km south-south-east of Cape Kachese.

Where it is

Sumbu Island is on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika, in its southern third (358 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Cape Kachese 1.2 mi north · Bismarck 1.3 mi north-east · Sumbu 1.8 mi south-west

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) (~74 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 (1518 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 (80 °F–83 °F), 21 clear satellite daysAMay: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 119 clear satellite daysMJun: 78 °F mean (76 °F–79 °F), 307 clear satellite daysJJul: 76 °F mean (75 °F–77 °F), 366 clear satellite daysJAug: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 355 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (76 °F–80 °F), 228 clear satellite daysSOct: 80 °F mean (78 °F–82 °F), 90 clear satellite daysONov: 82 °F mean (81 °F–83 °F), 19 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (3)–D
Surface temperature by month near Sumbu Island — 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 site photograph shows Sumbu Island with Sumbu Town in the background.

Sources
  1. tanganyika.si — Sumbu Island, Lake Tanganyika, Zambia: location page and photo gallery (captions by David Lundvall, 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.

Cyathopharynx (1)

Variabilichromis (1)

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