Julidochromis transcriptus "Luhanga"
Luhanga — loo-HAHN-gah (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 Julidochromis transcriptus account →Specific to Luhanga
- 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 Julidochromis transcriptus.
The Luhanga population
Julidochromis transcriptus "Luhanga" is the Luhanga population of Julidochromis transcriptus, a geographic colour form from the Democratic Republic of the Congo coast of Lake Tanganyika in the far northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Julidochromis transcriptus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Luhanga fish at tanganyika.si →
About the species
Julidochromis transcriptus, the masked julie, is a tiny rock-dwelling cichlid endemic to a short stretch of the northwest shore of Lake Tanganyika. Boldly marbled in black and white, it is one of the most popular dwarf "julies" in the aquarium hobby — a hardy, cave-spawning fish that pairs for life and tends its young in a rock crevice. Yet that same desirability is now its undoing in the wild: with a known range of barely 37 km², it was uplisted from Least Concern to Critically Endangered in 2025, driven almost entirely by collection for the ornamental trade.
Full Julidochromis transcriptus account →