Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Lepidiolamprologus mimicus

Lepidiolamprologus mimicus "Lupita Island"

Lupita Island — loo-PEE-tah 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 Lepidiolamprologus mimicus account →

Specific to Lupita 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 Lepidiolamprologus mimicus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6.3 in16 cm total length
Temperature75–79 °F24–26 °C
pH8–9alkaline
Depth7–164 ft2–50 m
DietExclusive piscivore; preys on juvenile and sub-adult cyprichromine cichlids (Cyprichromis leptosoma, C. zonatus, C. coloratus, Paracyprichromis brieni), using aggressive mimicry to infiltrate open-water schools
BreedingSubstrate spawner (cave or crevice, inferred)Unknown; not directly observed in the wild
Sexual dimorphismYesNo color dimorphism described; size dimorphism typical of lamprologines but not formally quantified for this species
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Lupita Island population

Lepidiolamprologus mimicus "Lupita Island" is the Lupita Island population of Lepidiolamprologus mimicus, 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 Lepidiolamprologus mimicus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Lupita Island fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Lepidiolamprologus mimicus is a slender, yellow-finned predatory cichlid endemic to the rocky shores of southern Lake Tanganyika, described only in 2007. Its name says everything: when it hunts, it drains the dark spots from its flanks and pales to a soft beige, slipping into open-water schools of small cyprichromine cichlids and picking off the young before they recognize the threat. It is the first documented case of aggressive mimicry among Tanganyika's lamprologine cichlids, and it remains a rarely kept fish even among specialist Tanganyikan hobbyists.

Full Lepidiolamprologus mimicus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Lepidiolamprologus mimicus "Lupita Island"
  2. Lepidiolamprologus mimicus — FishBase summary
  3. Lepidiolamprologus mimicus — GBIF (with reproduced original description)
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Lepidiolamprologus mimicus (species)
  5. Schelly, Takahashi, Bills & Hori (2007), Zootaxa 1638:39–49 — original description (PDF)
  6. The first case of aggressive mimicry among lamprologines… (abstract), Semantic Scholar / DOI 10.11646/zootaxa.1638.1.3