Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Julidochromis cyanophleps

Chalinochromis cyanophleps "Kipili"

Kipili — kee-PEE-lee (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 Julidochromis cyanophleps account →

Specific to Kipili

  • 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 Julidochromis cyanophleps.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in12.9 cm standard length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth20–148 ft6–45 m
DietPicks invertebrates & biocover from rocks
BreedingBiparental substrate (cave/crevice) spawner~30–100 eggs (genus-typical; not precisely documented)
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNo colour difference between sexes; males average only ~10–15% larger, so the sexes are not reliably distinguishable externally
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kipili population

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

Colour reference: living Kipili fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Julidochromis cyanophleps is a cave-dwelling cichlid endemic to a roughly 90-km stretch of Lake Tanganyika's Tanzanian shore, described only in 2014 after years in the trade under provisional names. Unlike its boldly head-striped relatives, it wears a plain brown-grey body broken by a single iridescent blue stripe beneath the eye — the feature that earned it the name "blue-veined." A shy, low-light specialist that often patrols cave ceilings belly-up, it is one of the lake's more cryptic lamprologins and remains scarce in aquaria.

Full Julidochromis cyanophleps account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Chalinochromis cyanophleps "Kipili"
  2. Kullander, Karlsson, Karlsson & Norén (2014). Chalinochromis cyanophleps, a new species of cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika. Zootaxa 3790(3):425–438
  3. Original description treatment (full text: diagnosis, etymology, habitat, COI barcode) — GBIF/Plazi
  4. Chalinochromis cyanophleps — FishBase species summary
  5. Chalinochromis cyanophleps — GBIF taxon (backbone + type specimens)
  6. Chalinochromis cyanophleps reference abstract — Cichlid Room Companion