Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Petrochromis famula

Petrochromis famula "Mtoto"

Mtoto — m-TOH-toh (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 famula account →

Specific to Mtoto

  • 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 famula.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.9 in15.1 cm total length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Depth7–20 ft2–6 m
DietEpilithic algae and diatoms scraped from rock surfaces (aufwuchs grazer)
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder15–60 eggs (typically ~30 in aquaria); brooded ~30 days
Sexual dimorphismYesMales more colourful with stronger iridescence and more pointed dorsal, anal and pelvic fins; males carry egg-spots on the anal fin
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mtoto population

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

Colour reference: living Mtoto fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Petrochromis famula is one of the smaller members of a genus of dedicated rock-grazing cichlids found only in Lake Tanganyika. It earns its living combing a film of algae and diatoms off boulders with brush-like pads of hinged teeth, and it survives among bigger, pushier congeners by claiming narrow crevices the giants cannot fit into. Comparatively modest in size and aggression for a Petrochromis, it is nonetheless an intensely territorial maternal mouthbrooder that demands a long tank and a high-fibre diet in captivity.

Full Petrochromis famula account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Petrochromis famula "Mtoto"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Petrochromis famula (species record)
  3. FishBase — Petrochromis famula summary
  4. Mattsson et al. — A morphological and molecular analysis of the species diversity of the genus Petrochromis from Lake Tanganyika
  5. Yamaoka — feeding behaviour and dental morphology of algae-scraping cichlids (Petrochromis), Lake Tanganyika
  6. Tada et al. — Diet disparity among sympatric herbivorous cichlids in the same ecomorphs in Lake Tanganyika (BMC Biology)