Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus obscurus

Neolamprologus obscurus "Kantalamba"

Kantalamba — kahn-tah-LAHM-bah (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 obscurus account →

Specific to Kantalamba

  • 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 obscurus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.2 in8.2 cm total length
Temperature73–82 °F23–28 °C
pH7–8.5alkaline
Depth20–98 ft6–30 m
DietBenthic invertivore; feeds primarily on small crustaceans (especially shrimp), insect larvae, and other bottom invertebrates, with snails taken to a lesser extent
BreedingCave spawner (substrate spawner)~20 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesMales are larger (up to ~8 cm) and darker; females smaller (up to ~6 cm)
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kantalamba population

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

Colour reference: living Kantalamba fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus obscurus is a small, dark-bodied lamprologine cichlid endemic to the southern third of Lake Tanganyika, where it lives a secretive life wedged into the crevices of sediment-rich rocky shores. It is best known to science not for its looks but for its social life: it is one of a handful of fishes that breed cooperatively, with grown offspring staying home to help raise the next brood. Most remarkably, those helpers excavate and maintain cavities under stones that trap drifting shrimp, effectively farming the family's food supply.

Full Neolamprologus obscurus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus obscurus "Kantalamba"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Neolamprologus obscurus (species record)
  3. FishBase — Neolamprologus obscurus summary
  4. GBIF — Neolamprologus obscurus (Poll, 1978)
  5. Tanaka, Frommen & Kohda (2018) — Helpers increase food abundance in the territory of a cooperatively breeding fish (Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, DOI 10.1007/s00265-018-2450-5)
  6. Tanaka, Frommen, Engqvist & Kohda (2018) — Task-dependent workload adjustment of female breeders in a cooperatively breeding fish (Behavioral Ecology)