Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Cardiopharynx schoutedeni

Cardiopharynx schoutedeni "Cameron Bay"

Cameron Bay — cah-MEH-rohn BAY (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 Cardiopharynx schoutedeni account →

Specific to Cameron Bay

  • 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 Cardiopharynx schoutedeni.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.7 in12 cm standard length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Depth10–148 ft3–45 m
DietSemi-pelagic micro-feeder over sand: sifts sand for micro-organisms, algae and detritus and picks plankton such as copepods from the water column
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderA few dozen eggs (genus-typical; not firmly documented)
Sexual dimorphismYesModest. Breeding males show iridescent blue flank streaks and more pointed, extended fins; females are smaller with rounder fins and stay plain beige-silver when not breeding.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Cameron Bay population

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

Colour reference: living Cameron Bay fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Cardiopharynx schoutedeni is a slender, silvery sand-dwelling cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, and the only member of its genus. It is a member of the tribe Ectodini, the lake's sprawling radiation of sand- and rock-dwelling cichlids, and it makes a living the way many ectodines do: cruising the open water just above sandy flats in loose schools, sifting the substrate and snapping at plankton. Allied to the featherfins and rarely common in the hobby, it is easily mistaken for the more familiar Ectodus descampsii — a fish whose understated looks belie a genuinely specialized ecology.

Full Cardiopharynx schoutedeni account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Cardiopharynx schoutedeni "Cameron Bay"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Cardiopharynx schoutedeni (Poll, 1942)
  3. FishBase — Cardiopharynx schoutedeni summary
  4. GBIF — Cardiopharynx schoutedeni Poll, 1942
  5. Konings, A. — Enjoying Cichlids, 2nd ed. (Cichlid Press): sand-dwelling cichlids of Lake Tanganyika
  6. Koblmüller et al. (2004), Evolutionary relationships in the sand-dwelling cichlid lineage of Lake Tanganyika, J. Mol. Evol. (PubMed)