Xenotilapia melanogenys "Kasanga"
Xenotilapia melanogenys (Bilinge Bay, Cape Nangu, Chisanse, Chituta Bay, Isanga Bay, Kambwimba, Kantalamba, Karema, Karilani Island, Kasanga, Kekese, Kigoma, Kipili, Kombe, Mpulungu, Mtosi, Namansi, Sibwesa, Utinta)
Kasanga — kah-SAHN-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 Xenotilapia melanogenys account →Specific to Kasanga
- 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.
The Kasanga population
Xenotilapia melanogenys "Kasanga" is the Kasanga 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 Kasanga 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
- tanganyika.si — Xenotilapia melanogenys "Kasanga"
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — melanogenys (Ectodus), current status Enantiopus melanogenys (Boulenger 1898)
- FishBase — Xenotilapia melanogenys summary
- GBIF — Xenotilapia melanogenys (accepted; Enantiopus melanogenis a synonym), taxon key 2369805
- Andersen, T. (2005) — A sparkling jewel: Xenotilapia melanogenys (Boulenger, 1898), Cichlid Room Companion
- Takahashi, T. (2003) — Systematics of Xenotilapia (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, Ichthyological Research 50(1):36-47
- IUCN Red List — Xenotilapia melanogenys "Kasanga"