Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Petrochromis fasciolatus

Petrochromis fasciolatus "Bulu Point"

Bulu Point — BOO-loo POYNT (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 fasciolatus account →

Specific to Bulu Point

  • 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 fasciolatus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.9 in15 cm total length
Temperature73–81 °F23–27 °C
pH7.4–8.4alkaline
Depth0–49 ft0–15 m
DietHerbivore; grazes aufwuchs (algae, cyanobacteria, diatoms) from rock surfaces; cyanobacteria ~75%, diatoms ~20% of gut contents
Breedingmaternal mouthbrooder20–40 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesMales larger and intensify in color when territorial; some populations show orange-red eye stripe ("Red Eye" form from Ikola) or orange/blue dorsal trim absent in females
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Bulu Point population

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

Colour reference: living Bulu Point fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Petrochromis fasciolatus is a small, algae-grazing cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, recognizable by the narrow vertical bars that give it its name and by a slightly upturned mouth unusual for its genus. It is the underdog of the lake's rock-scraping guild: outcompeted for the richest algal pasture by larger, more aggressive Petrochromis, it gets around them by feeding in mobile schools that can number in the hundreds and simply overwhelm a territory holder's defenses. That mob-feeding strategy, documented in the field, is the single most interesting thing about an otherwise modest fish.

Full Petrochromis fasciolatus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Petrochromis fasciolatus "Bulu Point"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Petrochromis fasciolatus (Boulenger 1914)
  3. FishBase — Petrochromis fasciolatus summary
  4. Kohda & Takemon (1996), Group foraging by the herbivorous cichlid Petrochromis fasciolatus in Lake Tanganyika, Ichthyological Research 43:55–63
  5. Hata et al. (2014), Diet disparity among sympatric herbivorous cichlids in Lake Tanganyika, BMC Biology 12:90
  6. Hata et al. (2015), Depth segregation and diet disparity in sympatric herbivorous cichlids in Lake Tanganyika