Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus petricola

Neolamprologus petricola "Moliro"

Neolamprologus petricola (Bilila (Kavala) Island, Cape Chaitika, Cape Kapembwa, Cape Tembwe, Moliro, Mtoto, Mulyma, Muzimu, Tongwa)

Moliro — moh-LEE-roh (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 Moliro

  • 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
Genus type speciesNeolamprologus tetracanthusdescribed as Lamprologus tetracanthus Boulenger 1899
Scientific size5.5 in14 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Habitat waterhard · 600–690 µS/cmLake Tanganyika
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 Moliro population

Neolamprologus petricola "Moliro" is the Moliro 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 Moliro 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 (4.5–5.5 in), 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 "Moliro"
  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
  7. IUCN Red List — Neolamprologus petricola "Moliro"
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