Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus buescheri

Neolamprologus buescheri "Polombwe Bay"

Polombwe Bay — poh-LOHM-bweh BAY (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 Polombwe Bay

  • 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 Polombwe Bay population

Neolamprologus buescheri "Polombwe Bay" is the Polombwe Bay population of Neolamprologus buescheri, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Tanganyika in the 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 Polombwe Bay 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 "Polombwe Bay"
  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