Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta

Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta "Katenga"

Katenga — kah-TEHN-gah (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 heterodonta account →

Specific to Katenga

  • 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 heterodonta.

IUCNNEAR THREATENED · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5.5 in14.4 cm standard length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth7–33 ft2–10 m
DietOpportunistic omnivore: grazes aufwuchs (algal film and micro-life on rocks) and takes small invertebrates such as ostracods, insect larvae and surface insects, plus plankton when available
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder; lek-spawning, males build sand crater bowers~10-16 eggs (one field record of 8 large eggs ~3.5 mm)
Sexual dimorphismYesStrong: territorial males are sky-blue with a dark spindle-shaped flank mark and elongated pelvic fins tipped with bright yellow egg-dummy lappets; females and non-displaying males are plain silvery-grey and indistinguishable from other ventralis-complex females
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Katenga population

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

Colour reference: living Katenga fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta is a featherfin cichlid endemic to the rocky northwestern shore of Lake Tanganyika, where territorial males sculpt volcano-shaped sand bowers and lure passing females not with the anal egg-spots typical of most mouthbrooders but with the bright yellow tassels dangling from their trailing pelvic fins. It belongs to the tribe Ectodini and the tightly knit Ophthalmotilapia ventralis species complex, a group so similar in the females that even specialists cannot tell them apart. Long confused in the aquarium trade with a look-alike, the true fish is a narrow-range endemic now listed as Near Threatened. It is a striking but demanding fish that punishes crowding and sloppy water.

Full Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta 'Katenga'
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta
  3. FishBase: Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta summary
  4. Konings, A. — Tanganyika Featherfins in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press)
  5. Konings, A. (ed.) — Cichlids Yearbook vol. 4 (Cichlid Press): Ophthalmotilapia nasuta from Resha, Burundi (Herrmann)
  6. FishBase: Ophthalmotilapia ventralis (genus reproductive biology)
  7. Oral Fertilization in a Mouthbrooding Cichlid Fish (ResearchGate)
  8. IUCN Red List — Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta "Katenga"