Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Lepidiolamprologus meeli

Lepidiolamprologus meeli "Katibili"

Katibili — kah-tee-BEE-lee (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 Lepidiolamprologus meeli account →

Specific to Katibili

  • 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 Lepidiolamprologus meeli.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.8 in7 cm total length
Temperature73–77 °F23–25 °C
pH8.2–9alkaline
Depth16–66 ft5–20 m
DietInvertebrates and fry or juveniles of other fishes; an opportunistic micro-predator hunting close to the substrate
BreedingShell spawner; female deposits eggs inside empty gastropod (Neothauma) shellsSmall; exact clutch size unreported in the literature
Sexual dimorphismYesMales substantially larger than females (up to ~7 cm vs ~4 cm TL); breeding females often darken dramatically and may develop black pelvic fins while brooding
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Katibili population

Lepidiolamprologus meeli "Katibili" is the Katibili population of Lepidiolamprologus meeli, a geographic colour form from the Democratic Republic of the Congo coast of Lake Tanganyika in the north-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Lepidiolamprologus meeli, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Katibili fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Lepidiolamprologus meeli is a small predatory cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, one of the lake's many shell-associated lamprologines that pairs the hunting build of a sand-stalking predator with the domestic habits of a snail-shell breeder. It is best known to hobbyists less for itself than for the confusion around it: the true species is a modest, narrowly recorded fish, while most of the "meeli" sold in the trade is actually one of several look-alike or undescribed relatives. Females spawn deep inside empty gastropod shells while the larger male patrols a sandy territory above — a division of labor that makes the species a compact, watchable subject for a dedicated Tanganyikan tank.

Full Lepidiolamprologus meeli account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Lepidiolamprologus meeli "Katibili"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Lepidiolamprologus meeli (Poll, 1948)
  3. FishBase — Lepidiolamprologus meeli summary
  4. FishBase — Lepidiolamprologus boulengeri (genus shell-breeding comparison)
  5. Schelly et al. & Lamprologini phylogeny — evolutionary history of the tribe (ScienceDirect)
  6. Reticulate phylogeny of gastropod-shell-breeding cichlids of Lake Tanganyika (PMC)