Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus savoryi

Neolamprologus savoryi "Sumbu"

Sumbu — SOOM-boo (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 savoryi account →

Specific to Sumbu

  • 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 savoryi.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.5 in9 cm total length
Temperature73–79 °F23–26 °C
pH7.3–8.5alkaline
Depth13–66 ft4–20 m
DietSmall invertebrates: insect larvae, copepods, and other small crustaceans; occasionally small amounts of plant-derived material
BreedingCave/substrate spawner; biparental care with cooperative helpersFewer than 12 fry per spawn
Sexual dimorphismYesMales are the larger sex; females typically ~6 cm, noticeably smaller than males
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Sumbu population

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

Colour reference: living Sumbu fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus savoryi is a small, dark-bodied rock-dwelling cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, the ancestral member of a tight cluster of "princess" cichlids that bears its name. For decades the hobby filed it away as a slightly drab cousin of the famous Neolamprologus brichardi, kept and bred as a quiet little pair. Field biology has since told a more interesting story: in the lake the species is a cooperative breeder, living in groups of a dominant male, one to several breeding females, and a crowd of subordinate helpers that defend the territory and tend young that are not their own. That gap between the tidy aquarium picture and the busy social life on the reef is what makes the fish worth a second look.

Full Neolamprologus savoryi account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus savoryi "Sumbu"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Neolamprologus savoryi (Poll, 1949)
  3. FishBase — Neolamprologus savoryi (Poll, 1949)
  4. GBIF — Neolamprologus savoryi
  5. Heg, Bachar & Taborsky (2005) — Cooperative Breeding and Group Structure in the Lake Tanganyika Cichlid Neolamprologus savoryi (Ethology 111:1017-1043)
  6. Reddon et al. — Sex and social status affect territorial defence in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish, Neolamprologus savoryi (ResearchGate)