Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of the base species

Lamprologus kungweensis "Mkuyu"

Mkuyu — m-KOO-yoo (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 Mkuyu

  • 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
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.1 in8 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.5–8.5alkaline
Depth33–164 ft10–50 m
DietMicro-predator of zooplankton and small benthic invertebrates (copepods and similar), largely exposed by burrow excavation
BreedingCavity/burrow substrate spawner; eggs laid in female's burrow then often moved to male's burrow~12 (on the order of a dozen)
Sexual dimorphismYesFemale is the showier sex: yellow-beige body with orange-to-coppery belly and a crisp black-and-white dorsal blaze; males plainer and more uniformly grayish
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mkuyu population

Lamprologus kungweensis "Mkuyu" is the Mkuyu population of Lamprologus kungweensis, 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 Lamprologus kungweensis, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Mkuyu fish at tanganyika.si →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Lamprologus kungweensis "Mkuyu"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Lamprologus kungweensis (species record)
  3. FishBase — Lamprologus kungweensis Poll, 1956
  4. GBIF — Lamprologus kungweensis Poll, 1956
  5. O'Reilly et al. 2003, Nature — Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika
  6. Cohen et al. 2016, PNAS — Climate warming reduces fish production and benthic habitat in Lake Tanganyika