Lake Rukwa
A shallow, alkaline, endorheic lake in the Rukwa Rift of southwestern Tanzania, between Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi. With no outlet, its level and area swing dramatically with rainfall — historically splitting into two basins in dry phases — and its waters are saline and alkaline. Its cichlid fauna is small and adapted to those harsh, variable conditions, and includes the endemic Rukwa tilapia (Oreochromis rukwaensis, IUCN Vulnerable).
- Maximum depth
- 49 ft
- Length
- 112 miles
- Mixing regime
- Polymictic
- Basin
- Rukwa Rift (endorheic)
- Countries
- Tanzania
Where every species has been recorded
5 cichlid species across 4 genera have been georeferenced in the lake, drawn from 31 field and museum records. Switch to satellite imagery, or pick a single species to see exactly where it lives.
Occurrence records: GBIF.org (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). Each point is a georeferenced observation or specimen; positions carry the source dataset's own coordinate precision.
Sources
Every number on this page is traceable to peer-reviewed research.
- GBIF.org (2026). GBIF Occurrence Download — Cichlidae, African rift lakes. Global Biodiversity Information Facility, www.gbif.org. link
A shoreline of separate worlds
Lake Rukwa does not have one habitat but a mosaic of them, and the boundaries are sharp. A cichlid adapted to grazing algae off boulders may never cross the few metres of open sand to the next reef — which is exactly why so many species here live nowhere else on Earth.
Mapped habitats
Surveyed habitat data for this lake is not loaded yet.