Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus helianthus

Neolamprologus helianthus "Kamakonde"

Kamakonde — kah-mah-KOHN-deh (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 helianthus account →

Specific to Kamakonde

  • 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 helianthus.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm total length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Depth7–23 ft2–7 m
DietSmall invertebrates (aquatic insects, crustaceans, copepods); algal film and diatoms from rock surfaces
BreedingSubstrate spawner, cave/crevice; biparental extended care (brichardi-complex style)10–20 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesWeak: males average slightly larger; no reliable difference in color or finnage — sexing requires observation of behavior.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kamakonde population

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

Colour reference: living Kamakonde fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus helianthus, the sunflower cichlid, is a small rock-dwelling fish endemic to the rocky shoreline of Lake Tanganyika, named for the warm yellow-to-orange wash that sets it apart from its many drab relatives. It belongs to the celebrated "brichardi complex" of fairy cichlids, but breaks ranks with them in one telling way: where its cousins gather in vast cooperative colonies, the sunflower keeps to itself, breeding as a single secretive pair that defends its crevice with a ferocity wildly out of proportion to its three-inch frame. Striking to look at and uncommon in the trade, it is a fish admired more for its color and combative personality than for any ease of keeping.

Full Neolamprologus helianthus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus helianthus "Kamakonde"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Neolamprologus helianthus (Büscher, 1997)
  3. FishBase — Neolamprologus helianthus (Büscher, 1997)
  4. GBIF — Neolamprologus helianthus Büscher, 1997 (with original-description reference)
  5. Büscher, H. H. (1997) — Ein neuer Cichlide aus dem Tanganjikasee: Neolamprologus helianthus (Cichlidae, Lamprologini). DATZ 50(11):701–706 (original description)
  6. Ronco et al. (2020) — The taxonomic diversity of the cichlid fish fauna of ancient Lake Tanganyika, J. Great Lakes Research 47(4) (inventory of 208 valid species)