Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Gnathochromis permaxillaris

Gnathochromis permaxillaris "Kalubale"

Kalubale — kah-loo-BAH-leh (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 Gnathochromis permaxillaris account →

Specific to Kalubale

  • 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 Gnathochromis permaxillaris.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.9 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Depth98–656 ft30–200 m
DietSuction-feeds benthic invertebrates from sand
BreedingBiparental mouthbrooderRoughly 20-60 eggs (genus-typical; not precisely documented)
Sexual dimorphismYesMinimal — males average slightly larger than females, but there is little reliable external dimorphism and the species is genuinely difficult to sex by eye.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kalubale population

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

Colour reference: living Kalubale fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Gnathochromis permaxillaris is a deepwater cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, instantly recognizable by the absurdly extended upper lip that folds down into a fleshy, downward-facing nozzle. It uses that nozzle exactly as it looks: as a vacuum, hovering over soft mud and sand and inhaling a mouthful of substrate to filter out hidden invertebrates, much like a South American eartheater on the other side of the world. Rare in the wild and rarer still in the hobby, it is one of the lake's more singular feeding specialists.

Full Gnathochromis permaxillaris account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Gnathochromis permaxillaris "Kalubale"
  2. Gnathochromis permaxillaris — FishBase species summary
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (CAS) — Gnathochromis / permaxillaris
  4. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — Gnathochromis permaxillaris (David, 1936)
  5. Haefeli, Schedel, Ronco, Indermaur & Salzburger (2024) — Revision of the cichlid genus Gnathochromis, with Jabarichromis gen. nov. (Zootaxa 5410(3))
  6. Duftner, Koblmuller & Sturmbauer (2005) — Evolutionary relationships of the Limnochromini, benthic deepwater cichlids of Lake Tanganyika (J. Mol. Evol.)