Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Benthochromis tricoti

Benthochromis tricoti "Mpulungu"

Mpulungu — m-poo-LOON-goo (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 Benthochromis tricoti account →

Specific to Mpulungu

  • 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 Benthochromis tricoti.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6.5 in16.5 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Depth98–230 ft30–70 m
DietPicks micro-zooplankton from open water
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~5–15 eggs (small clutch, genus-typical for these large deep-water planktivores)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales grow markedly larger and develop the long filamentous dorsal- and anal-fin extensions and blue-grey longitudinal lines over a yellow-tinged throat; females remain smaller, plain, and largely silver.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mpulungu population

Benthochromis tricoti "Mpulungu" is the Mpulungu population of Benthochromis tricoti, a geographic colour form from the Zambia coast of Lake Tanganyika in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Benthochromis tricoti, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Mpulungu fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Benthochromis tricoti is a tall, feather-finned cichlid endemic to the deep, dimly lit water of Lake Tanganyika, where it hangs in loose schools over rocky slopes and picks plankton from the open water. Long muddled together with its near-identical relatives, it turned out to be one of three look-alike Benthochromis species — and the genuine article is so seldom collected that almost every "tricoti" in the aquarium hobby is actually its cousin. A graceful, planktivorous maternal mouthbrooder that breeds in water too deep for divers to easily watch, it is among the most enigmatic of the lake's many endemic cichlids.

Full Benthochromis tricoti account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Benthochromis tricoti "Mpulungu"
  2. FishBase — Benthochromis tricoti (Poll, 1948)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Catalog of Fishes), Benthochromis / tricoti
  4. Takahashi, T. 2008. Description of a new cichlid fish species of the genus Benthochromis from Lake Tanganyika. J. Fish Biol. 72:603–613
  5. O'Reilly et al. 2003. Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika. Nature 424:766–768
  6. Cohen et al. 2016. Climate warming reduces fish production and benthic habitat in Lake Tanganyika. PNAS 113:9563–9568