Tropheus sp. kipili "Mwila Island"

Tropheus sp. kipili (File Bay, Isaba Point, Kampemba, Kampemba Point, Kasisi Island, Katale Bay, Kerenge Island, Kipili, Lake Shore Lodge Kipili, Lupita Island, Mtosi Bay, Mvuna Island, Mwila Island, Nkondwe Island, Ulwile Island, Ulwile Island (Kushangaza))

Mwila Island — m-WEE-lah EYE-land (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 Tropheus sp. kipili account →

Specific to Mwila Island

  • 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 Tropheus sp. kipili.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Genus type speciesTropheus mooriiBoulenger 1898
Scientific size5.5 in14 cm total length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH7.8–9alkaline
Habitat waterhard · 600–690 µS/cmLake Tanganyika
Depth3–49 ft1–15 m
Dietherbivore — grazes algal aufwuchs from the upper rocky littoral
Breedingmaternal mouthbroodersmall, ~5–20 large eggs
Sexual dimorphismYesweak; venting needed to sex reliably
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Mwila Island population

Tropheus sp. kipili "Mwila Island" is the Mwila Island population of Tropheus sp. kipili, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Tanganyika in the north-central part of the lake. It is the same species as Tropheus sp. kipili, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Mwila Island fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Tropheus sp. kipili is an undescribed rock-grazing Tropheus 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 Tropheus sp. kipili account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Tropheus sp. 'kipili' Mwila Island
  2. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (California Academy of Sciences)
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