Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Ophthalmotilapia boops

Ophthalmotilapia boops "Kala Bay"

Kala Bay — KAH-lah BAY (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 Ophthalmotilapia boops account →

Specific to Kala Bay

  • 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 Ophthalmotilapia boops.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size6 in15 cm total length
Temperature72–79 °F22–26 °C
pH8.6–9.2alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 357 ppm
Depth7–33 ft2–10 m
DietBrowses biocover/algae (diatoms, filamentous algae) & associated micro-invertebrates; takes open-water plankton when available
BreedingMaternal (ovophilous) mouthbrooder~15–40 eggs (genus-typical, Konings)
Sexual dimorphismYesStrong: dominant males velvet-black with sky-blue patches and greatly elongated pelvic fins tipped with yellow 'egg-dummy' lappets; females and non-territorial males plain sooty grey-brown
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kala Bay population

Ophthalmotilapia boops "Kala Bay" is the Kala Bay population of Ophthalmotilapia boops, a geographic colour form from the Zambia coast of Lake Tanganyika in the central part of the lake. It is the same species as Ophthalmotilapia boops, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Kala Bay fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Ophthalmotilapia boops is one of Lake Tanganyika's "featherfin" cichlids, a velvet-black, blue-flecked rock-dweller endemic to the Tanzanian shore. Like its three congeners it pairs an algae-grazing mouth with an elaborate courtship: territorial males build sand craters on flat rocks and flag down females with vivid, tassel-tipped pelvic fins. It is rarer in the trade than its cousins and tied to a narrow stretch of coast, which makes the most prized color forms vulnerable to collection even though the species as a whole is still considered secure.

Full Ophthalmotilapia boops account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Ophthalmotilapia boops 'Kala Bay'
  2. Ophthalmotilapia boops — FishBase summary
  3. Ophthalmotilapia boops — FishBase field guide
  4. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Cal. Acad. of Sciences)
  5. Hanssens, Snoeks & Verheyen (1999): A morphometric revision of the genus Ophthalmotilapia (Teleostei, Cichlidae)
  6. A morphometric revision of the genus Ophthalmotilapia — Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 125(4):487
  7. Evolution of egg dummies in Tanganyikan cichlid fishes — Journal of Evolutionary Biology
  8. IUCN Red List — Ophthalmotilapia boops "Kala Bay"