Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Tanganicodus irsacae

Tanganicodus irsacae "Luagala Point"

Luagala Point — loo-ah-GAH-lah 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 Tanganicodus irsacae account →

Specific to Luagala 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 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 Luagala Point population

Tanganicodus irsacae "Luagala Point" is the Luagala Point population of Tanganicodus irsacae, 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 Tanganicodus irsacae, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Luagala Point 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 "Luagala Point"
  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)