Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Tanganyika · Tanzania

Yamsamba Island

yahm-SAHM-bah EYE-land (approx.)

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

7.8341°S 30.7744°E

Yamsamba Island is an island off Lake Tanganyika's Tanzanian shore, about 1 km south-south-east of Kashia Island.

Where it is

Yamsamba Island is on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, in its southern third (311 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Kashia Island 0.7 mi north · Lwilwi Island 1.4 mi south · Msamba 1.4 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) (~109 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 77 °F to 81 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1429 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 (2)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (4)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (8)–MApr: 81 °F mean (80 °F–83 °F), 17 clear satellite daysAMay: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 108 clear satellite daysMJun: 78 °F mean (76 °F–80 °F), 278 clear satellite daysJJul: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 351 clear satellite daysJAug: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 335 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (77 °F–80 °F), 223 clear satellite daysSOct: 80 °F mean (78 °F–81 °F), 81 clear satellite daysONov: 81 °F mean (80 °F–82 °F), 19 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (3)–D
Surface temperature by month near Yamsamba 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.

Sources
  1. tanganyika.si — Yamsamba Island, Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania: location page and photo gallery

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.

Cyphotilapia (1)

Neolamprologus (1)

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