Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Lamprologus meleagris

Lamprologus meleagris "Cape Tembwe"

Cape Tembwe — KAYP TEHM-bweh (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 Lamprologus meleagris account →

Specific to Cape Tembwe

  • 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 Lamprologus meleagris.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.8 in7 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
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 Cape Tembwe population

Lamprologus meleagris "Cape Tembwe" is the Cape Tembwe population of Lamprologus meleagris, a geographic colour form from the Democratic Republic of the Congo coast of Lake Tanganyika in the central 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 Cape Tembwe fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Lamprologus meleagris is a small shell-dwelling cichlid from the Congolese shoreline of Lake Tanganyika, named for the pearly, guineafowl-like speckling that earned it the aquarium-trade name "pearly ocellatus." Its most interesting feature isn't its looks but its name: most taxonomists now treat meleagris as a junior synonym of the older Lamprologus stappersi, so the fish hobbyists buy under one label is, by the rules of nomenclature, another. Whatever you call it, it is a sand-and-shell specialist that breeds inside discarded snail shells and defends them with a feistiness out of all proportion to its two-and-a-half-inch frame.

Full Lamprologus meleagris account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Lamprologus meleagris "Cape Tembwe"
  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)