Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Neolamprologus schreyeni

Neolamprologus schreyeni "Magara"

Magara — mah-GAH-rah (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 schreyeni account →

Specific to Magara

  • 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 schreyeni.

IUCNENDANGERED · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2 in5 cm total length
Temperature77–79 °F25–26 °C
pH8.5–9.2alkaline
Depth66 ft20 m
DietHard-shelled benthic invertebrates — small snails (crushed by enlarged molariform rear teeth), crustaceans, and insect larvae gleaned from sediment-coated rock crevices; trophic level ~3.3
Breedingcave/crevice substrate spawnersmall (inferred from close relatives in the buescheri group)
Sexual dimorphismYesPoorly documented for this species; males in related buescheri-group fish tend to run slightly larger with marginally extended unpaired fins
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Magara population

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

Colour reference: living Magara fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Neolamprologus schreyeni is a tiny, secretive lamprologine cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, known with confidence only from the rocky Burundian coast at the lake's northern tip. Barely 2 inches long and almost never seen in the open, it spends its life wedged into crevices of sediment-dusted boulders, where its blunt, molar-like rear teeth hint at a diet of hard-shelled prey. It is a connoisseur's fish rather than a hobby staple, and a 2025 reassessment moved it from Vulnerable to Endangered on the strength of its pinpoint range.

Full Neolamprologus schreyeni account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Neolamprologus schreyeni "Magara"
  2. Neolamprologus schreyeni — FishBase species summary
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (California Academy of Sciences)
  4. Neolamprologus schreyeni — IRMNG (genus/species nomenclature)
  5. Poll, M. 1974. Contribution à la faune ichthyologique du lac Tanganika (original description)
  6. O'Reilly et al. 2003 — Climate change decreases productivity of Lake Tanganyika (Nature)