Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Perissodus multidentatus

Plecodus multidentatus "Kansombo Banks"

Kansombo Banks — kahn-SOHM-boh BAHNKS (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 multidentatus account →

Specific to Kansombo Banks

  • 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 multidentatus.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size4.5 in12 cm standard length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth49–328 ft15–100 m
DietLepidophage (scale-eater)
BreedingMaternal mouthbrooderUndocumented; genus-typical small clutch (roughly 10–30 eggs)
Sexual dimorphismYesMature males develop more elaborate fin extensions, including the distinctive filament from the lower caudal lobe, and more complex body patterning than females; sexes otherwise similar
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kansombo Banks population

Plecodus multidentatus "Kansombo Banks" is the Kansombo Banks population of Plecodus multidentatus, 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 Plecodus multidentatus, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Kansombo Banks fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Perissodus multidentatus is a small, rarely seen cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika and a member of the Perissodini, the rift lake's notorious tribe of scale-eaters. Unlike its relatives that shear scales off larger cichlids, this fish makes much of its living on the open-water sardines, taking roughly equal mouthfuls of skin and scales. It is also one of the more cryptic members of the group: a deep-living species thought to mimic the coloration of the harmless Benthochromis it lives among, and the only cichlid known to grow a filament from just the lower lobe of its tail.

Full Perissodus multidentatus account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Plecodus multidentatus "Kansombo Banks"
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes — Plecodus / Perissodus multidentatus (Poll, 1952)
  3. FishBase — Plecodus multidentatus species summary (IUCN: Not Evaluated)
  4. FishBase — Cichlid species of Lake Tanganyika (trophic/ecology list)
  5. Takahashi et al. — Evolution of feeding specialization in Tanganyikan scale-eating cichlids (BMC Evol. Biol., diet data)
  6. Koblmüller et al. — Evolutionary history of Lake Tanganyika's scale-eating cichlid fishes (Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.)