Sumbu
SOOM-boo (approx.)
The atlas records 14 collection-point forms from Sumbu, across 11 genera.
8.5200°S 30.4600°E
Sumbu is a town on Zambia's Lake Tanganyika shore, about 3 km west-south-west of Sumbu Island.
Where it is
Sumbu is on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika, in its southern third (359 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Ndole Bay 1.6 mi north-west · Sumbu Island 1.8 mi north-east · Cape Kachese 2.4 mi north-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) (~76 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 (1477 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
Site photographs show Sumbu Town together with the nearby Sumbu Island.
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.