Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus crassus

Neolamprologus crassus "Katete"

Katete — kah-TEH-teh (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 crassus account →

Specific to Katete

  • 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 crassus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2006
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.8 in7 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Depth3–66 ft1–20 m
DietZooplankton and small invertebrates picked from the water column above rocky substrate (micropredator, trophic level ~3.4)
BreedingSubstrate spawner; adhesive eggs deposited on cave or crevice ceiling/wallSmall clutches typical of cave-brooding lamprologines; exact count unreported in literature
Sexual dimorphismYesMales slightly larger with longer, more produced unpaired fins; dimorphism modest
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Katete population

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

Colour reference: living Katete fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus crassus is a small, stocky rock-dwelling cichlid described from the western shore of Lake Tanganyika, one of roughly a dozen members of the celebrated "fairy cichlid" complex built around Neolamprologus brichardi and Neolamprologus pulcher. It is best known for what taxonomists have done to it: Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes now lists it as a synonym of Neolamprologus pulcher, while FishBase and the IUCN still carry it as a valid species. Whatever name wins, the fish itself is a cooperative, lyre-tailed plankton-picker that breeds in rock crevices and raises its young in extended family groups.

Full Neolamprologus crassus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus crassus "Katete"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: species 'crassus, Lamprologus' (Brichard 1989) — current status synonym of Neolamprologus pulcher
  3. FishBase: Neolamprologus crassus (Brichard, 1989) summary
  4. Verburg & Bills (2007), Two new cichlid species Neolamprologus from Lake Tanganyika — N. savoryi complex treatment (Plazi)
  5. O'Reilly et al. (2003), Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika (Nature; PubMed abstract)
  6. Cohen et al. (2016), Climate warming reduces fish production and benthic habitat in Lake Tanganyika (PNAS)