Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Julidochromis popelini

Chalinochromis popelini "Cape Tembwe"

Cape Tembwe — KAYP TEHM-bweh (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 popelini account →

Specific to Cape Tembwe

  • 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 popelini.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth10–98 ft3–30 m
DietPicks invertebrates & biocover from rocks
BreedingBiparental substrate/cave spawner~30–60 eggs (genus-typical; popelini clutch poorly documented)
Sexual dimorphismYesModest: males grow somewhat larger than females; no reversed size dimorphism (unlike the undescribed Tanzanian 'bifrenatus' form).
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Cape Tembwe population

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

Colour reference: living Cape Tembwe fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Julidochromis popelini is a cream-bodied, rock-dwelling cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, described by aquarium importer Pierre Brichard in 1989 and named for a Belgian officer who died on the lake's shores. It is one of those fish that sits awkwardly on the line between two genera: morphologically and behaviorally it bridges the bridled Chalinochromis and the elongate Julidochromis, and recent molecular work has pushed it formally into the latter. In the wild it is a quiet, pair-bonding aufwuchs-picker of the rocky littoral; in a tank it is a handsome but uncompromisingly territorial fish that tolerates almost nothing of its own kind.

Full Julidochromis popelini account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Chalinochromis popelini "Cape Tembwe"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — popelini, Chalinochromis (current status Julidochromis popelini)
  3. FishBase — Chalinochromis popelini summary
  4. FishBase — Chalinochromis popelini field guide / distribution (IUCN status: Not Evaluated)
  5. GBIF — Chalinochromis popelini Brichard, 1989
  6. Konings, A. 2023. 'The rise and fall of Chalinochromis'. Buntbarsche Bulletin 318:6-13 (abstract)