Plecodus elaviae "Cape Nambeyeye"
Cape Nambeyeye — KAYP nahm-beh-YEH-yeh (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 the base species account →Specific to Cape Nambeyeye
- 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 the base species.
IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
EXEWCRENVUNTLC
CARESNOT LISTED
EWCRENVUNTnot on the priority list
Scientific size12.6 in32 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH8.6–9.2alkaline
Depth131–328 ft40–100 m
DietLepidophage (scale-eater)
BreedingBi-parental mouthbrooderUndocumented for this species; Perissodini typically a few dozen to a few hundred relatively large eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesSexes similar in plain silvery-grey coloration; like other Perissodini, individuals show a left- or right-skewed mouth asymmetry ('handedness') tied to attack side, though sexual dimorphism itself is weak and poorly documented in this species.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →The Cape Nambeyeye population
Plecodus elaviae "Cape Nambeyeye" is the Cape Nambeyeye population of Plecodus elaviae, a geographic colour form from the Zambia coast of Lake Tanganyika in the southern part of the lake. It is the same species as Plecodus elaviae, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.
Colour reference: living Cape Nambeyeye fish at tanganyika.si →
Sources
- tanganyika.si — Plecodus elaviae "Cape Nambeyeye"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Plecodus elaviae (valid as Perissodus elaviae)
- FishBase — Plecodus elaviae summary
- GBIF — Plecodus elaviae occurrence search
- Evolution of feeding specialisation in Tanganyikan scale-eating cichlids (Perissodini phylogeny)
- Evolutionary history of Lake Tanganyika's scale-eating cichlid fishes (Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.)