Lamprologus ocellatus "Ikola"
Ikola — ee-KOH-lah (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 Ikola
- 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 size2.3 in5.8 cm total length
Temperature73–77 °F23–25 °C
pH8–9alkaline
Depth16–164 ft5–50 m
DietMicro-carnivore; picks small crustaceans, insect larvae, and other zoobenthos from the sand and water column near its shell
BreedingSubstrate spawner (inside empty Neothauma snail shell)Small clutch; eggs hatch in ~3 days, fry free-swimming by ~10 days
Sexual dimorphismYesMales larger (to ~5 cm); females smaller (3–4 cm), often with white-lipped dorsal and anal fins vs. more orange-tinged fins in males
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →The Ikola population
Lamprologus ocellatus "Ikola" is the Ikola population of Lamprologus ocellatus, 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 ocellatus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Ikola fish at tanganyika.si →
Sources
- tanganyika.si — Lamprologus ocellatus "Ikola"
- Lamprologus ocellatus — FishBase species summary
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Fricke, Eschmeyer & Van der Laan, eds.)
- Lamprologus ocellatus (Steindachner, 1909) — GBIF Backbone Taxonomy
- Brandtmann, Scandura & Trillmich (1999) — Female-female conflict in the harem of a snail cichlid (Lamprologus ocellatus), Behaviour 136:1123-1144
- Female aggression and male peace-keeping in a cichlid fish harem (Lamprologus ocellatus)