Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus multifasciatus

Neolamprologus multifasciatus "Mbita Island"

Mbita Island — m-BEE-tah 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 multifasciatus account →

Specific to Mbita 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 multifasciatus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2 in5 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Depth10–82 ft3–25 m
DietMicro-predator; primarily zooplankton (tiny crustaceans and invertebrates) drifting above the shell bed, supplemented by small benthic invertebrates.
BreedingShell-brooding substrate spawner inside empty Neothauma snail shells.~10–30 eggs (small clutch, genus-typical for shell brooders)
Sexual dimorphismYesMales substantially larger than females; both sexes deepen in color when breeding, females flushing a warmer rust tone.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mbita Island population

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

Colour reference: living Mbita Island fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus multifasciatus, the "multi," is a shell-dwelling cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika and routinely billed as the smallest cichlid in the world, with mature fish often shorter than a thumbnail. It lives buried among the empty snail shells that carpet parts of the lake floor, where each fish excavates and fiercely guards its own shell while the colony as a whole defends a shared patch of sand. Despite its size, it sustains one of the most intensely studied social systems of any fish: stable, multi-generational groups that persist for years and turn the lakebed into a cratered, almost lunar landscape.

Full Neolamprologus multifasciatus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus multifasciatus "Mbita Island"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — species record for Lamprologus/Neolamprologus multifasciatus
  3. FishBase — Neolamprologus multifasciatus summary
  4. GBIF — Neolamprologus multifasciatus (Boulenger, 1906)
  5. iNaturalist — Multi (Neolamprologus multifasciatus)
  6. Jordan, Lein, Ma & Bose (2026) — Societies of the shell-dwelling cichlid Neolamprologus multifasciatus, Animal Behaviour