Eretmodus marksmithi "Lyamembe"
Eretmodus marksmithi (Bemba, Bilila (Kavala) Island, Bulu Point, Burundi, Cape Bangwe, Cape Kabogo, Cape Mpimbwe, Cape Munene, Cape Tembwe, Halembe, Ikola, Jakobsen's Beach, Kalugunga, Kalundu, Kalya, Kansombo, Karilani Island, Kashekezi, Kaswente Bay, Katoba Rock, Katondo Point, Katonga, Kekese, Kibige Island, Kigoma, Kilima, Kiliza, Korongwe Bay, Kafwila Village, Luagala Point, Lyamembe, Mabilibili, Makombe, Mboko Island, Milima Island, Mkuyu, Msalaba, Mucansi, Muzimu, Mzungu Beach, Rubumba, Rumonge, Sibwesa)
Lyamembe — lyah-MEHM-beh (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 Eretmodus marksmithi account →Specific to Lyamembe
- 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 Eretmodus marksmithi.
The Lyamembe population
Eretmodus marksmithi "Lyamembe" is the Lyamembe population of Eretmodus marksmithi, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Tanganyika in the north-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Eretmodus marksmithi, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Lyamembe fish at tanganyika.si →
About the species
Eretmodus marksmithi is a small, banded goby cichlid endemic to the northern half of Lake Tanganyika, where it hops across wave-battered rocks in the first couple of meters of water and rasps a living off the algal film. It is one of the lake's "goby cichlids" — fish that have traded a working swim bladder for the ability to cling to the bottom in pounding surf. Long shipped to aquarists as the northern form of Eretmodus cyanostictus, it was only formally separated and named in 2012, honoring the American cichlid author and photographer Mark Smith.
Full Eretmodus marksmithi account →Sources
- tanganyika.si — Eretmodus marksmithi "Lyamembe"
- FishBase: Eretmodus marksmithi
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (California Academy of Sciences)
- Morley & Balshine 2003: Reproductive biology of Eretmodus cyanostictus (Env. Biol. Fishes)
- Grüter & Taborsky 2004: Mate Tactics, monogamy & biparental care in Eretmodus cyanostictus (PDF)
- Taylor et al. 2003: Genetic monogamy and female-biased dispersal in Eretmodus cyanostictus (Molecular Ecology / PubMed)
- IUCN Red List — Eretmodus marksmithi "Lyamembe"