Lamprologus callipterus "Cape Chaitika"
Cape Chaitika — KAYP chah-ee-TEE-kah (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 the base species account →Specific to Cape Chaitika
- 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 the base species.
IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
EXEWCRENVUNTLC
CARESNOT LISTED
EWCRENVUNTnot on the priority list
Scientific size5.9 in15 cm total length
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7–8.5alkaline
Depth15–39 ft4.5–12 m
DietOpportunistic carnivore; feeds on small invertebrates, crustaceans, and prey sifted from the substrate; non-territorial schools are known to raid other fish territories in a swarm ('the mob'), consuming whatever invertebrates are exposed.
BreedingSubstrate spawner — female spawns inside an empty Neothauma snail shell; male fertilizes from outside by pressing his vent to the shell mouthClutch laid egg by egg over approximately 6–12 hours; female broods inside the shell for ~10–14 days
Sexual dimorphismYesExtreme sexual size dimorphism: males reach 13–15 cm TL, females only ~4–4.5 cm TL. Body-mass ratios of 12:1 (Wonzye Point, Zambia) to ~60:1 (Muzimo, northern DRC) have been recorded — the most extreme male-larger dimorphism documented in any animal. A third 'dwarf' male morph, genetically fixed via Y-linked inheritance, is smaller even than females.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →The Cape Chaitika population
Lamprologus callipterus "Cape Chaitika" is the Cape Chaitika population of Lamprologus callipterus, a geographic colour form from the Zambia coast of Lake Tanganyika in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Lamprologus callipterus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Cape Chaitika fish at tanganyika.si →
Sources
- tanganyika.si — Lamprologus callipterus "Cape Chaitika"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Lamprologus callipterus (Boulenger, 1906)
- FishBase — Lamprologus callipterus (Boulenger, 1906)
- Schütz & Taborsky (2000), J. Fish Biology — Giant males or dwarf females: what determines the extreme sexual size dimorphism in Lamprologus callipterus?
- Schütz et al. (2012), Int. J. Evol. Biol. — Spawning Coordination of Mates in a Shell Brooding Cichlid
- Singh et al. (2023), Molecular Ecology — Genomic basis of Y-linked dwarfism in cichlids pursuing alternative reproductive tactics