Baileychromis centropomoides "Kansombo Banks"

Kansombo Bankskahn-SOHM-boh BAHNKS (approx.)

The fish

How this cichlid is built, and everything about how it lives, eats and breeds, is shared with the species — this page doesn't repeat it.

Read the full Baileychromis centropomoides account →

Specific to Kansombo Banks

  • Collection locality & coordinates
  • Local coloration — best judged from the living-fish photo
  • Kept as a single-provenance line, never crossed with other collection points

Care facts below are the species' — shared with Baileychromis centropomoides.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6.6 in16.8 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Depth131–328 ft40–100 m
DietDeep-water predator (fish/invertebrates)
BreedingSubstrate spawner (presumed biparental; undocumented)Undocumented (genus-typical for deep-water Limnochromini)
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNo clear external sexual dimorphism documented; males in the type series reach a slightly larger maximum size than the holotype female
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kansombo Banks population

Baileychromis centropomoides "Kansombo Banks" is the Kansombo Banks population of Baileychromis centropomoides, a geographic colour form from the Democratic Republic of the Congo coast of Lake Tanganyika in the north-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Baileychromis centropomoides, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Kansombo Banks fish at tanganyika.si

About the species

Baileychromis centropomoides is a deep-water cichlid found only in Lake Tanganyika, and one of the least-seen fish in the entire lake. Pulled up from 40 to 100 m (130–330 ft) over soft mud, it carries a long, broadly flattened snook-like snout and trailing dorsal spines unlike any other Tanganyikan cichlid. Ad Konings has gone so far as to call it possibly 'the rarest Tanganyika cichlid' — a reputation that owes as much to where it lives as to how scarce it truly is.

Full Baileychromis centropomoides account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Baileychromis centropomoides "Kansombo Banks"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Baileychromis centropomoides (CAS)
  3. FishBase — Baileychromis centropomoides summary
  4. FishBase — Baileychromis centropomoides field guide (depth/diagnosis)
  5. Bailey & Stewart 1977 — Cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika (orig. description, via CRC)
  6. Biodiversity Data Journal 2024 — African cichlid morphology/taxonomy (Limnochromini, Baileychromis)