Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta'

Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta' "Kigoma"

Kigoma — kee-GOH-mah (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 sp. 'paranasuta' account →

Specific to Kigoma

  • 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 sp. 'paranasuta'.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size8 in20 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth3–33 ft1–10 m
DietPlanktivore — picks plankton from open water, plus small invertebrates and insect larvae; long herbivore-style gut, best fed a vegetable-based diet in captivity.
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooder; lek/bower spawnerSmall — typically a few dozen large eggs (genus-typical for featherfins)
Sexual dimorphismYesStrong. Males larger and yellow (population-dependent) with greatly elongated pelvic fins tipped by swollen yellow egg-dummy lures, longer dorsal and pronounced nasal swelling; females and subordinate males plain silver-grey.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kigoma population

Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta' "Kigoma" is the Kigoma population of Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta', a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Tanganyika in the northern part of the lake. It is the same species as Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta', distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Kigoma fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta' is an undescribed featherfin cichlid of Lake Tanganyika — a distinctive geographic colour form (or complex of forms) recognized and traded by aquarists and documented in the biotope literature, but not yet formally described. Like the lake's other locality forms, it is kept and bred by collection point, and its value to hobbyists lies precisely in that documented provenance.

Full Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta' account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Ophthalmotilapia sp. 'paranasuta' Kigoma
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — species record for Ophthalmochromis/Ophthalmotilapia nasuta
  3. FishBase — Ophthalmotilapia nasuta summary
  4. GBIF — Ophthalmotilapia nasuta (Poll & Matthes, 1962)
  5. Poll, M. & Matthes, H. (1962). Trois poissons remarquables du lac Tanganika. Annales du Musée royal de l'Afrique Centrale (orig. description)
  6. Konings, A. (ed.) — The Cichlids Yearbook, vol. 4 (Cichlid Press): Herrmann, H.-J., 'Ophthalmotilapia nasuta from Resha, Burundi' (field biotope, depth, nesting & colour-form notes)
  7. Konings, A. — Tanganyika Featherfins in their Natural Habitat (Cichlid Press) — featherfin biotope, lek & bower behaviour