Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tanganicodus irsacae

Tanganicodus irsacae "Katonga"

Katonga — kah-TOHN-gah (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 Tanganicodus irsacae account →

Specific to Katonga

  • 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 Tanganicodus irsacae.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size2.8 in7 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.5–9alkaline
Depth0–10 ft0–3 m
DietBenthic invertebrate picker; selectively removes small crustaceans and micro-invertebrates from within algal turf (aufwuchs) on rocky surge-zone substrate
Breedingbiparental mouthbrooder~20 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesMales grow larger than females and may have slightly longer pelvic fins; coloration essentially identical between sexes, making reliable visual sexing difficult outside breeding condition
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Katonga population

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

Colour reference: living Katonga fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Tanganicodus irsacae, the spotfin goby cichlid, is a small, surf-loving fish endemic to Lake Tanganyika and the only member of its genus. It lives in the most violent water in the lake — the wave-battered first metre of the rocky shore — where a reduced swim bladder and clinging fins let it hold station among the cobbles while it picks invertebrates from the stone. Most striking of all, it is a monogamous biparental mouthbrooder: the female carries the eggs for the first two weeks, then transfers the larvae into the mouth of her lifelong mate, who finishes the job.

Full Tanganicodus irsacae account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Tanganicodus irsacae "Katonga"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Tanganicodus irsacae (species record)
  3. FishBase: Tanganicodus irsacae (Spotfin goby cichlid)
  4. FishBase point/occurrence data: Tanganicodus irsacae
  5. iNaturalist taxon: Tanganicodus irsacae
  6. Kuwamura, Nagoshi & Sato (1989), Female-to-male shift of mouthbrooding in Tanganicodus irsacae, Environmental Biology of Fishes 24(3):187-198 (abstract via CRC)