Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Xenotilapia papilio

Xenotilapia papilio "Moliro"

Moliro — moh-LEE-roh (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 Moliro

  • 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 Moliro population

Xenotilapia papilio "Moliro" is the Moliro population of Xenotilapia papilio, a geographic colour form from the Democratic Republic of the Congo coast of Lake Tanganyika in the 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 Moliro 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 "Moliro"
  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)