Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Petrochromis ephippium

Petrochromis ephippium "Kalala Island"

Kalala Island — kah-LAH-lah EYE-land (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 Petrochromis ephippium account →

Specific to Kalala Island

  • 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 Petrochromis ephippium.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size7.9 in20 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH8.6–9alkaline
Depth0–16 ft0–5 m
DietHerbivore; scrapes aufwuchs (diatoms and filamentous algae) from sunlit rocky surfaces using tricuspid dental combs
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooderSmall clutches typical of large Petrochromis; dominant males polygamous
Sexual dimorphismYesDominant males grow largest and color up most intensely; sub-dominant males and females can appear similar at a glance
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kalala Island population

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

Colour reference: living Kalala Island fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Petrochromis ephippium is a robust, algae-grazing cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, where it works the shallow tumble of rocks just below the surface, combing a living film of diatoms and filamentous algae off stone with rows of fine tricuspid teeth. Its species name means "saddle" in Latin, a nod to the pale, roughly rectangular patch many fish carry beneath the dorsal fin. To hobbyists it usually arrives under the trade tag "Petrochromis sp. Moshi" or "Moshi Yellow" — a big, pugnacious, fast-moving fish that demands a long tank and a keeper who understands its herbivorous gut.

Full Petrochromis ephippium account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Petrochromis ephippium "Kalala Island"
  2. FishBase — Petrochromis ephippium summary
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Cal. Academy of Sciences)
  4. GBIF — Petrochromis ephippium
  5. Mattsson, C. (2018) — A morphological and molecular analysis of the species diversity of the cichlid genus Petrochromis from Lake Tanganyika (bioRxiv 280263)
  6. Yamaoka — Feeding behaviour and dental morphology of algae-scraping cichlids in Lake Tanganyika (African Study Monographs)