Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus petricola

Neolamprologus petricola "Cape Tembwe"

Cape Tembwe — KAYP TEHM-bweh (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 petricola account →

Specific to Cape Tembwe

  • 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 petricola.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.5 in14 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Depth20–131 ft6–40 m
DietInvertebrates; primarily insect larvae and small crustaceans from rock surfaces and crevices; occasional small snails
BreedingCave spawner (substrate brooder)200–500 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesMales grow larger and develop a more pronounced nuchal hump with age; no significant sexual dichromatism
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Cape Tembwe population

Neolamprologus petricola "Cape Tembwe" is the Cape Tembwe population of Neolamprologus petricola, 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 petricola, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Cape Tembwe fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus petricola is a rock-dwelling cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, described by Max Poll in 1949 from M'Toto Bay on the lake's western shore. A stocky, cream-to-brown lamprologine of around 5 in (12-14 cm), it is one of the lake's many cave-spawning rock specialists — and one of its taxonomic puzzles, since at least one authority folds it into the closely similar Neolamprologus modestus. It reaches the aquarium trade only sporadically, but it offers a clean window into how Tanganyika's rocky littoral works.

Full Neolamprologus petricola account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus petricola "Cape Tembwe"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Neolamprologus petricola (Poll 1949)
  3. FishBase: Neolamprologus petricola summary
  4. GBIF: Neolamprologus petricola occurrence records
  5. iNaturalist: Neolamprologus petricola taxon page
  6. O'Reilly et al. (2003), Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika, Nature