Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus buescheri

Neolamprologus buescheri "Mbita Island"

Mbita Island — m-BEE-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 Neolamprologus buescheri account →

Specific to Mbita 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 buescheri.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.9 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Depth33–164 ft10–50 m
DietCarnivore; chironomid larvae and other small invertebrates picked from rock surfaces and crevices; occasionally plankton and opportunistic predation on small fry.
BreedingCave spawner; eggs deposited on cave wall or ceiling5–70 eggs (typically 5–20)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales larger (to ~10 cm TL) than females (~7 cm TL); sexes otherwise similar, distinguished reliably by behavior or genital papilla examination
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mbita Island population

Neolamprologus buescheri "Mbita Island" is the Mbita Island population of Neolamprologus buescheri, a geographic colour form from the Zambia coast of Lake Tanganyika in the north-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Neolamprologus buescheri, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

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

About the species

Neolamprologus buescheri is a small, torpedo-shaped lamprologine cichlid endemic to the deep rocky shores of southern Lake Tanganyika, where it lives glued to crevices much like a Julidochromis. Striped in cream and dark brown, it is one of the most coveted of the lake's rock-dwellers among aquarists and, pound for pound, one of the most pugnacious small cichlids in the hobby. It is rarely collected because it lives mostly below 20 m (66 ft), so most fish in the trade are tank-bred.

Full Neolamprologus buescheri account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus buescheri "Mbita Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Neolamprologus buescheri (Staeck 1983)
  3. FishBase — Neolamprologus buescheri summary
  4. FishBase — FAO areas / endemism for N. buescheri
  5. O'Reilly et al. 2003, Nature — Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika
  6. Cohen et al. 2016, PNAS — Climate warming reduces fish production and benthic habitat in Lake Tanganyika