Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus longicaudatus

Neolamprologus longicaudatus "Bilila (Kavala) Island"

Bilila (Kavala) Island — bee-LEE-lah kah-VAH-lah 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 longicaudatus account →

Specific to Bilila (Kavala) 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 longicaudatus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.4 in8.6 cm standard length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8–9alkaline
Depth39–49 ft12–15 m
DietMicro-carnivore (invertebrates picked from rock surfaces and open water)
BreedingPresumed substrate cave-brooder (rock-dwelling lamprologine pattern)Not documented for the species; expected modest clutches by analogy with relatives
Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot well documented; rock-lamprologines generally show males somewhat larger with more extended fin tips.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Bilila (Kavala) Island population

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

Colour reference: living Bilila (Kavala) Island fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus longicaudatus is a slender, long-tailed rock cichlid of Lake Tanganyika's northwestern shore, described in 1995 from the Ubwari Peninsula of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A solitary, cave-associated lamprologine of the mid-depth rocky zone, it resembles its better-known relative Neolamprologus buescheri but is seen more often out in the open, away from the crevices, hunting small invertebrates. Its drawn-out caudal fin gives it both its name and its quiet elegance among the rock-dwelling Neolamprologus.

Full Neolamprologus longicaudatus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus longicaudatus "Bilila (Kavala) Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — longicaudatus, Neolamprologus Nakaya & Gashagaza 1995 (current status valid; holotype HUMZ 127670, Cape Banza, Ubwari Peninsula, 15 m)
  3. FishBase — Neolamprologus longicaudatus Nakaya & Gashagaza 1995 (meristics, 8.6 cm SL, depth 12–15 m, Ubwari–Kavalla range, invertebrate diet, open-rock habit vs N. buescheri)
  4. Nakaya, K. & Gashagaza, M. M., 1995 — 'Neolamprologus longicaudatus, a new cichlid fish from the Zairean coast of Lake Tanganyika' (Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 42(1): 39–43) — original description
  5. Schelly, R., Stiassny, M. L. J. & Seegers, L., 2003 — work on Tanganyikan lamprologines (cited in support of validity)
  6. Konings, A., 2015/2019 — Tanganyika Cichlids in their Natural Habitat (habitat, distribution and ecology of N. longicaudatus)