Aquarist Atlas
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Xenotilapia melanogenys "Kambwimba"

Kambwimba — kahm-BWEEM-bah (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 Xenotilapia melanogenys account →

Specific to Kambwimba

  • 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 Xenotilapia melanogenys.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.9 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Depth0–131 ft0–40 m
DietSand-sifting micro-carnivore; takes mouthfuls of sand and strains out copepods, ostracods and other micro-invertebrates (shrimps also recorded). Trophic level ~3.2.
BreedingMaternal (female-only) mouthbrooder; colonial lek-breeder, polygamous, males build saucer-shaped sand nests~30-80 eggs (Konings); aquarium broods often smaller, ~15-25 fry
Sexual dimorphismYesSexes look alike (plain silver) most of the year, but breeding males turn iridescent green/blue/purple with yellow-and-dark fins and a yellow, dark-barred cheek, and only males build and defend nests; females stay a little smaller and remain silvery.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kambwimba population

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

Colour reference: living Kambwimba fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Xenotilapia melanogenys is a slender, sand-dwelling cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, where it patrols the open sandy floor in large schools, sifting copepods and ostracods from the grit. For most of the year it is a study in silvery camouflage, but at breeding time the males transform into one of the lake's most spectacular displays: iridescent green, blue and purple bodies thrown into colonial breeding arenas of saucer-shaped sand nests. It is a lek-breeding maternal mouthbrooder, a hobbyist favorite for its constant nest-building theater, and a useful reminder that the lake's quiet sand flats hold as much drama as its famous rocky reefs.

Full Xenotilapia melanogenys account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Xenotilapia melanogenys "Kambwimba"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — melanogenys (Ectodus), current status Enantiopus melanogenys (Boulenger 1898)
  3. FishBase — Xenotilapia melanogenys summary
  4. GBIF — Xenotilapia melanogenys (accepted; Enantiopus melanogenis a synonym), taxon key 2369805
  5. Andersen, T. (2005) — A sparkling jewel: Xenotilapia melanogenys (Boulenger, 1898), Cichlid Room Companion
  6. Takahashi, T. (2003) — Systematics of Xenotilapia (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, Ichthyological Research 50(1):36-47