Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Perissodus elaviae

Plecodus elaviae "Mpulungu market"

Mpulungu market — m-poo-LOON-goo MAH-rkeht (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 Perissodus elaviae account →

Specific to Mpulungu market

  • 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 Perissodus elaviae.

IUCNLEAST CONCERN · 2025
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size12.5 in32 cm total length
Temperature75–82 °F24–28 °C
pH8.6–9.2alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 357 ppm
Depth131–328 ft40–100 m
DietLepidophage (scale-eater)
BreedingBi-parental mouthbrooderUndocumented for this species; Perissodini typically a few dozen to a few hundred relatively large eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesSexes similar in plain silvery-grey coloration; like other Perissodini, individuals show a left- or right-skewed mouth asymmetry ('handedness') tied to attack side, though sexual dimorphism itself is weak and poorly documented in this species.
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mpulungu market population

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

Colour reference: living Mpulungu market fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Perissodus elaviae is a scale-eating cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, a member of the small but biologically famous tribe Perissodini whose adults make their living tearing scales from the flanks of other fish. At up to about 13 in (12.5 in) it is the largest of the lepidophagous Tanganyikan cichlids, a schooling, open-water hunter rather than a rock-dweller. Described by the Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll in 1949 and now often placed in the genus Perissodus, it is rarely seen in the aquarium trade — and for good reason: a fish that eats only living scales is one of the hardest cichlids on Earth to feed in captivity.

Full Perissodus elaviae account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Plecodus elaviae "Mpulungu market"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Plecodus elaviae (valid as Perissodus elaviae)
  3. FishBase — Plecodus elaviae summary
  4. GBIF — Plecodus elaviae occurrence search
  5. Evolution of feeding specialisation in Tanganyikan scale-eating cichlids (Perissodini phylogeny)
  6. Evolutionary history of Lake Tanganyika's scale-eating cichlid fishes (Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.)
  7. IUCN Red List — Plecodus elaviae "Mpulungu market"