Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Pseudosimochromis marginatus

Pseudosimochromis marginatus "Jakobsen's Beach"

Jakobsen's Beach — YAH-kob-senz BEECH (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 Pseudosimochromis marginatus account →

Specific to Jakobsen's Beach

  • 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 Pseudosimochromis marginatus.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.9 in10 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Depth0–33 ft0–10 m
DietGrazes algal aufwuchs/biocover from rocks
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder~20 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesMales carry a dark band along the upper margin of the spiny dorsal fin (the 'margin'); females lack it and may flush cherry-red on cheeks and anal fin
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Jakobsen's Beach population

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

Colour reference: living Jakobsen's Beach fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Pseudosimochromis marginatus is a small, snub-nosed grazing cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, where it lives in the surf-washed shallows and feeds by scraping algal film off rocks. Long known as Simochromis marginatus, it was moved into Pseudosimochromis in 2015 along with two relatives, leaving the old genus Simochromis with a single species. Its quietest feature is also its most reliable field mark: a dark band running along the top edge of the male's spiny dorsal fin, the 'margin' that gives the fish its name.

Full Pseudosimochromis marginatus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Pseudosimochromis marginatus "Jakobsen's Beach"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Pseudosimochromis marginatus (Poll 1956)
  3. FishBase — Pseudosimochromis marginatus
  4. Cichlid Room Companion — taxonomic changes in Tanganyika Cichlids in Their Natural Habitat (3rd ed., 2015)
  5. Van Steenberge, M. (2014). Species and speciation in Tropheus, Simochromis and Pseudosimochromis (PhD thesis, KU Leuven)
  6. Kuwamura, T. (1986). Parental care and mating systems of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika. J. Ethol. 4:129–146 (cited in IUCN assessment)