Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus petricola

Neolamprologus petricola "Mtoto"

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

Mtoto — m-TOH-toh (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 Mtoto

  • 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 Mtoto population

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

Colour reference: living Mtoto 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 "Mtoto"
  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 "Mtoto"
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