Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Xenotilapia papilio

Xenotilapia papilio "Kiku"

Kiku — KEE-koo (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 papilio account →

Specific to Kiku

  • 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 papilio.

IUCNDATA DEFICIENT · 2025
DDnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size3.1 in7.8 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Depth10–131 ft3–40 m
DietSediment-sifting micro-invertebrate feeder; filters ostracods (the great majority of the diet), copepods and other small crustaceans, insect larvae, filamentous algae and sand from the film on rocks.
BreedingBiparental mouthbrooderSmall, rarely more than 15-20 eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesWeak and unreliable: no consistent color or finnage difference. Ripe females show a fuller belly; males are sometimes described as marginally more robust.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kiku population

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

Colour reference: living Kiku fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Xenotilapia papilio is a small, jewel-like cichlid found only along a short stretch of Lake Tanganyika's southwestern shore in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its name means "butterfly," a nod to the delicate yellow-and-black fins it flares during courtship, but its real distinction is ecological: while most of its sand-sifting relatives roam the open lake floor in schools, papilio lives in pairs on sediment-dusted rock. It is also a biparental mouthbrooder, with male and female taking turns carrying the brood, a behavior that has made it a coveted and famously temperamental fish among Tanganyikan specialists.

Full Xenotilapia papilio account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Xenotilapia papilio "Kiku"
  2. FishBase: Xenotilapia papilio
  3. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (California Academy of Sciences)
  4. FishBase point/occurrence data for Xenotilapia papilio
  5. Büscher, H.H. 1990. Xenotilapia papilio n. sp., ein neuer Cichlide aus dem Tanganjikasee (DATZ 43(5):289-293)
  6. O'Reilly, C.M. et al. 2003. Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika (Nature)