Cunningtonia longiventralis "Cape Kachese"
Cunningtonia longiventralis (Cape Kachese, Cape Nangu, Isanga Bay, Kipili, Lupita Island, Mabilibili, Msalaba, Nausingili Island, Sibwesa, Ulwile Island)
Cape Kachese — KAYP kah-CHEH-seh (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 Cunningtonia longiventralis account →Specific to Cape Kachese
- 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 Cunningtonia longiventralis.
The Cape Kachese population
Cunningtonia longiventralis "Cape Kachese" is the Cape Kachese population of Cunningtonia longiventralis, a geographic colour form from the Zambia coast of Lake Tanganyika in the central part of the lake. It is the same species as Cunningtonia longiventralis, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Cape Kachese fish at tanganyika.si →
About the species
Cunningtonia longiventralis is the lone species in its genus, a slender, blue-finned "featherfin" cichlid endemic to the southern half of Lake Tanganyika. It belongs to the sand-dwelling Ectodini tribe, but it makes its living an unexpected way: rather than sifting sand, it grazes algae off rocks with a long, looping gut more typical of a Petrochromis than of its featherfin cousins. Males build sand bowers to court females and the species is a maternal mouthbrooder, but it is uncommon in the wild and only sporadically seen in the hobby.
Full Cunningtonia longiventralis account →Sources
- tanganyika.si — Cunningtonia longiventralis "Cape Kachese"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Cunningtonia longiventralis (species)
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Cunningtonia (genus)
- FishBase — Cunningtonia longiventralis summary
- GBIF — Cunningtonia longiventralis (taxon key 2371401)
- Konings, A. — Tanganyika Featherfins in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)
- IUCN Red List — Cunningtonia longiventralis "Cape Kachese"