Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus stappersi

Lamprologus meleagris "Bilila (Kavala) Island"Pearly shell-dweller

Neolamprologus stappersi (Bilila (Kavala) Island, Cape Tembwe, Kitumba, Milima Island, Moba)

Bilila (Kavala) Island — bee-LEE-lah kah-VAH-lah EYE-land (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 Neolamprologus stappersi account →

Specific to Bilila (Kavala) Island

  • 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 Neolamprologus stappersi.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesLamprologus congoensisSchilthuis 1891
Scientific size3 in7 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Habitat waterhard · 600–690 µS/cmLake Tanganyika
Depth0–33 ft0–10 m
DietBenthic micro-predator; feeds chiefly on insect larvae and small invertebrates gleaned from sand and shell debris (trophic level ~3.6)
BreedingSubstrate spawner; eggs deposited inside empty Neothauma snail shellsSmall clutches laid deep inside a snail shell; female broods for roughly 10–12 days
Sexual dimorphismYesMales larger with a longer, less steeply sloped facial profile; females smaller and more subdued in color
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Bilila (Kavala) Island population

Lamprologus meleagris "Bilila (Kavala) Island" is the Bilila (Kavala) Island population of Lamprologus meleagris, a geographic colour form from the Democratic Republic of the Congo coast of Lake Tanganyika in the northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Lamprologus meleagris, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Bilila (Kavala) Island fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus stappersi is a small shell-dwelling cichlid from the Congolese shoreline of Lake Tanganyika, still sold almost everywhere as Lamprologus meleagris or "pearly ocellatus" for its guineafowl-like speckling. The two names belong to one fish: Pellegrin described stappersi in 1927, Büscher described the same species again as meleagris in 1991, and Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes now treats meleagris as a junior synonym, so the older name stands. Whatever the label on the tank, it is a sand-and-shell specialist that breeds inside empty snail shells and defends them with a feistiness out of all proportion to its two-and-a-half-inch frame.

Full Neolamprologus stappersi account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Lamprologus meleagris "Bilila (Kavala) Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Lamprologus meleagris (current status: synonym of Neolamprologus stappersi)
  3. FishBase — Lamprologus meleagris summary
  4. GBIF — Lamprologus stappersi Pellegrin, 1927
  5. FishBase — Lamprologus stappersi summary
  6. Büscher, H.H. 1991. Neue Schneckencichliden aus dem Tanganjikasee: Lamprologus meleagris n. sp. und L. speciosus n. sp. DATZ 44(6):374–382 (record via Cichlid Room Companion)
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