Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus longicaudatus

Neolamprologus longicaudatus "Milima Island"

Milima Island — mee-LEE-mah 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 Milima 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 Milima Island population

Neolamprologus longicaudatus "Milima Island" is the Milima Island population of Neolamprologus longicaudatus, a geographic colour form from the Democratic Republic of the Congo coast of Lake Tanganyika in the north-central 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 Milima 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 "Milima 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)