Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Oreochromis tanganicae

Oreochromis tanganicae "Mkuyu"Tanganyika Tilapia

Oreochromis tanganicae (Mkuyu, Mtego Bay)

Mkuyu — m-KOO-yoo (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 Oreochromis tanganicae account →

Specific to Mkuyu

  • 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 Oreochromis tanganicae.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesOreochromis hunteriGünther 1889
Scientific size16.5 in42 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Hardness (GH)up to 446 ppm
Habitat waterhard · 600–690 µS/cmLake Tanganyika
Depth0–3 ft0–1 m
DietPhytoplankton/periphyton feeder
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder (males build bowers/lek)Genus-typical, a few hundred eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesDominant territorial males are larger with longer dorsal/anal fins and complex bright pale-blue-on-red nuptial coloration; females and non-territorial males are plain silvery with pearly spots.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mkuyu population

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

Colour reference: living Mkuyu fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Oreochromis tanganicae, the Tanganyika tilapia, is a large maternal mouthbrooder endemic to Lake Tanganyika and the deltas of its larger inflowing rivers. It is the lake's dominant native tilapiine, a fast-growing grazer that browses the algal surface film and forms foraging shoals along sandy and muddy shores. Reaching roughly 16.5 inches (16.5 in), it is far better known to East African fishers and fish farmers than to aquarists, and it carries a quiet conservation concern of its own: protecting its genetic identity from escaped, farmed Nile tilapia.

Full Oreochromis tanganicae account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Oreochromis tanganicae "Mkuyu"
  2. FishBase — Oreochromis tanganicae (Tanganyika tilapia)
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (California Academy of Sciences)
  4. GBIF — Oreochromis tanganicae (Günther, 1894)
  5. USFWS Ecological Risk Screening Summary — Oreochromis tanganicae
  6. Bbole et al. (2023), Conservation concerns for Oreochromis tanganicae, Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research
  7. IUCN Red List — Oreochromis tanganicae "Mkuyu"
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