Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Xenotilapia melanogenys

Xenotilapia melanogenys "Utinta"

Utinta — oo-TEEN-tah (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 Utinta

  • 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 Utinta population

Xenotilapia melanogenys "Utinta" is the Utinta population of Xenotilapia melanogenys, 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 Xenotilapia melanogenys, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Utinta 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 "Utinta"
  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