Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus prochilus

Neolamprologus prochilus "Kambwimba"

Kambwimba — kahm-BWEEM-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 prochilus account →

Specific to Kambwimba

  • 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 prochilus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6.7 in17 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH8.6–9alkaline
Depth16–197 ft5–60 m
DietSmall crustaceans and other invertebrates extracted from rock crevices by suction feeding; also small fishes
Breedingcave substrate spawnerAround 50 eggs per spawn; early spawns from young pairs may be as few as 5, rising toward 50 as the pair matures
Sexual dimorphismYesFemales markedly smaller (~9 cm) than males (~17–18 cm); otherwise not strongly dimorphic in color or fin shape
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kambwimba population

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

Colour reference: living Kambwimba fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus prochilus is a secretive, cave-dwelling cichlid endemic to the southern, Zambian end of Lake Tanganyika. It is the largest member of its genus, reaching about 7 in (17 cm), yet it is rarely seen even by divers because it spends its life deep inside the dark crevices of the rocky shore. Its most striking feature is a set of enormous, highly protrusible jaws that it uses to vacuum invertebrates out of cracks, an adaptation that gives it an uncanny resemblance to the unrelated Altolamprologus through convergent evolution.

Full Neolamprologus prochilus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus prochilus "Kambwimba"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Neolamprologus prochilus (Bailey & Stewart 1977)
  3. FishBase — Neolamprologus prochilus summary
  4. GBIF — Neolamprologus prochilus
  5. Bailey & Stewart 1977, Cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika: additions to the Zambian fauna including two new species (orig. description, via CRC reference)
  6. O'Reilly et al. 2003, Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika (Nature)